So Wrong, But Feels So Right
by DarkElements10
Summary: Camille/Logan/OC "I am trying not to tell you, but I want to. I'm scared of what you'll say. So I'm hiding what I'm feeling..." Friends who joke a little too personally, sit a little too closely, hug for a little too long, are just friends? Yeah, right. But, that's what Logan and Rhuben were. Falling in love wasn't part of the equation. -Lella fic for Rage-Against-Time-
1. Best Friends

**So Wrong, But Feels So Right**

**Summary: -Camille/Logan/OC- "I am trying not to tell you, but I want to. I'm scared of what you'll say. So I'm hiding what I'm feeling, but I'm tired of holding this inside my head. I've been spending all my time just thinking about you. I don't know what to do, I think I'm fallin' for you." Friends who joke a little too personally, sit a little too closely, hug for a little too long, are just friends? Yeah, right. ****They say there's no way guys and girls can just be friends. But that's what Logan Mitchell and Rhuben Jackson-McGuire are: best friends and nothing's going to change that. But, that gets harder as you grow up and get in relationships. Jealousy is a hard concept to ignore; green isn't a good color on just anybody you know. Falling for each other was never part of the equation.  
**

**NOTE – Alternate title is "Nothing Even Matters"**

* * *

_A Virgo is the most caring friend you can ever have. They will help you with just about everything._

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**~1~**

"And then you drop all your weight on your back foot, right Logan? _Right, Logan_?"

17-year-old Logan Mitchell blinked, slamming back into reality. He grinned sheepishly into the mirror in front of him as Rhuben Jackson-McGuire rolled her eyes. He and his friends, Kendall Knight, Carlos Garcia, and James Diamond were in the dance studio at Rocque Records, working on dance moves to accompany songs for their album, _Elevate_, for the many performances that were coming up for them.

Logan never thought he'd ever see his friend again, hell, he never thought he'd be moving to California to be shaped into the newest boy band, but he did, two years prior. When he was sixteen, Gustavo Rocque went looking for "his fire" all over the United States, having found it in St. Paul, Minnesota in the form of his best friend, Kendall Knight.

But, Kendall didn't want to be a pop star, it was actually the dream of James Diamond, his other best friend. Being the selfless person Kendall is, he agreed to move to California, only if he could be a singing group with James, himself, and Carlos Garcia, the last of their quartet. Gustavo wasn't happy about it, but he agreed, as he really wanted Kendall to sing for him. So he, his friends, and Kendall's mom, Kacy, and sister, Katie, all packed up and flew out to California.

What they learned when they got there was how hard the music business was going to be, and how they needed to be prepared for everything that could possibly come flying their way. What better way to do that, than to be mentored by, not only Dak Zevon, the most popular teen icon out there, but by who _he _had mentored, the DarkElements, a family band from Australia.

Riley was the band's wardrobe stylist, helping Rocque Records' marketing team with looks for the guys, Rhuben was their choreographer, hired after Mr. X quit, Patrick and Noah helped the boys with song writing, and Sydney helped Gustavo and Ronan, and the boys themselves, with producing music, or anything else they needed. Paired with Dak, who helped with vocal runs, stage presence, warm ups, and a lot of other things, they were sure to improve pretty quickly.

At this point, Logan hadn't kept up with the music business, because all he wanted to do was to study, get good grades, keep his friends out of trouble, and make it through medical school in one piece. Imagine his shock and surprise when he came face to face with his old friends from Texas. He hoped to be able to pick up right where they had left off, but with years of no contact from each other, that proved to be more difficult than he thought. They weren't as open and lively; but more sheltered, and serious, seeming to be guarded about everything.

Over the first year of being in California, Logan slowly regained his friendship with them, as well as the other boys and Katie, who he was sure had a serious crush on both Patrick _and _Noah, developing friendships with them along the way. Unfortunately, they had also learned that their new friends had been suffering through years of child abuse at the hand of their father, and manager, Robert Jackson.

Logan felt sick when he had found out. For years, he had noticed their bruises and injuries, but never put two and two together about what was going on. But, even then, he had a bad feeling about Robert, whether he knew the truth or not. But, he felt so bad, like it was _his _fault that it happened. He was the smart one, he should've known. And that was what made him want to rekindle his friendship with them; no matter how hard they made it. It was actually Kendall who was able to look past their cold exterior and learn that all they ever wanted was to have friends, so they tried to be that for them.

And it worked. They were there through their friend's trial, and watching Robert being carted off to jail. They were also there for them when their music producer of eight years and possibly their closest friend, Ronan McGuire, wanted to adopt them. They had finally got the happy ending that they wanted; a real family. And over the next two years, while they didn't have the friendship they used to have, he was happy to have the friendship that they had now. If it wasn't for them, and for Dak, Big Time Rush wouldn't be the success that it is.

"Right, sorry," Logan replied, doing the dance move in question, placing all of his weight on his back right foot as he leaned back, arching his back, like the rest of his friends.

"Anyway," Rhuben called loudly as Logan blushed. He and Kendall were easily the weakest dancers out of the four boys that made up Big Time Rush, and both of them hated being called out on it in front of everyone else, even though they knew all Rhuben was doing was trying to help them out.

"From this pose you will swing your body forward and land with all your weight on your left foot, and your right foot will be out behind you, as if you're ready to kick a soccer ball. Then with your right foot, kick forward once, back once, and forward twice along to the beat of the song. Then, you kick back once, forward once, and back twice." She slowly showed the movements before clapping her hands together, turning to face the boys. "You guys got it? Alright, let's try just that part with the music."

She made her way over to the large stereo system mounted on the wall and jabbed her thumb into the PLAY button. "_Elevate a little higher. Let's throw a party in the sky and celebrate_." The chorus to their song, _Elevate_, flooded the room. "Five, six, sev-en, eight."

As the four boys started dancing, the sound of feet tapping against the ground was heard above the loud, pounding music. Just like everyone else, Logan kept their eyes on himself in the mirror, never pausing to look at anything else in fear of breaking concentration.

"Keep going! Don't stop!" Rhuben called out, her arms crossed hvoer her chest as she slowly walked around the boys, giving them a critical eye. "One, two, three, and four! Kick-turn! Left punch, right punch! And spin on fly. K-Dawg, you're off half a beat." Kendall frowned, but continued to dance, trying to get back in unison with everyone else.

She watched for a moment longer before turning off the music. "Alright, stop." She waved her hand over her head when she noticed James was still dancing. Logan rolled his eyes, but laughed a little bit. James always tried to show off in front of Rhuben, Rhuben's twin sister Riley, or any of their other girl friends. He had continued the dance for a few more steps without any accompanying music.

"You've already impressed me today, Handsome," Rhuben said, giving him a pointed look, although she had a small smile on her face. "Don't push your luck." James merely shrugged before going to grab his towel. "Anyway, Handsome, good job as usual, but don't bounce so much." She then turned towards Carlos. "Care Bare, you give away your mistakes with the face you make, try to smile through everything." She nodded over at Kendall. "K-Dawg; you need a _little_ more help piecing this together, but you've got the moves done pact when they're separate. Remind me to set up a time to meet you to help." Kendall nodded, giving her a thumbs up, breathing too hard to answer vocally. "And Logie-Bear—" Rhuben looped an arm around Logan's waist, chuckling slightly at his wince at the nickname, "great job, today. A few missteps, but keep practicing and you'll have it down in no time."

Logan couldn't help but smile. He knew he did a good job that day, but it was great to get some reassurance from their choreographer as well, despite being called 'Logie-Bear' the nickname he's hated since he was a kid. Rhuben, Riley, and their brothers, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney gave nicknames to all of their friends as a way to signify and confirm their friendship. The five of them didn't make friends that easily, but once they did become friends with you, it was pretty much guaranteed they'd be there for the rest of your life.

"All in all, that was great," Rhuben said with a smile at the four boys. "Hi-Hat will be happy with your progress when she comes back."

"Thanks for helping us out on such short notice, Beautiful," James said with a wink as he moved to gather his stuff. "Seriously, you didn't have to come in the last week of summer to help out."

The boys of Big Time Rush gave the Jacksons nicknames in return. When they had first met Riley and Rhuben, it was hard for them to tell the twin girls apart. Not wanting to make them mad about forgetting their names, James resorted to doing what he did best with girls; flirting. Trying to butter them up, he resorted to calling both of them Beautiful, and in turn, the two girls called him Handsome.

"I know I didn't, but why would I miss the chance to hang out with my boys?" Rhuben asked, putting a hand over her heart. She then laughed a little bit. "Hey, I understand that Hi-Hat had to help Rihanna on such short notice. Just be lucky that I wasn't busy. So, I'll see you guys later?"

"Aren't you coming back to the PalmWoods?" Kendall asked, stopping in the middle of shouldering his dance bag.

"Yeah, I thought you needed homework help," Logan commented with a small frown.

He and Rhuben always did homework together if and when she was having trouble understanding what they were covering in school. While Logan, James, Carlos, and Kendall attended the school at the Palm Woods, Rhuben and her brothers and sisters were all homeschooled; often meeting up with the Palm Woods teacher, Miss Collins to be sure they were still on track with the lesson plan for the year.

"Can't," Rhuben replied, pulling the elastic band out of her hair, before gathering her hair up in her hands, making side ponytail, "I've got other dancers to help today."

"You mean, _we're_ not your only clients?" James asked, putting a hand over his heart, eyes widening. "I'm _shocked_."

"You don't even pay me, Handsome," Rhuben pointed out, an amused look crossing her face as she put her hands on her hips. "So, you're not my clients. You're my friends.

"Yes we do, pay you," Carlos pressed, a firm look on his face. He then crossed the room to her, giving her a tight bear hug, lifting her off the floor. "We pay you with love."

"And gratitude," Kendall added with a small laugh as Carlos set the small girl down. "Seriously, we really appreciate it."

"You're welcome K-Dawg," Rhuben replied with a nod before turning back to Logan. "Anyway, I'll be over later for homework help. I'm stuck on math, and you know how much I hate doing it."

Logan groaned, putting a hand over his heart. "Please don't let me hear the words 'hate' and 'math' together in the same sentence again," he joked, shaking his head.

"Ok, we're not that tight at the moment," Rhuben replied with a roll of her eyes. "So yeah, if you're ever in a tight spot, just hit us up and we'll come help you out in a second, mates." She then stretched her arms over her head and let out a loud yawn. "Sorry, we just got in a few days ago and I'm still jet exhausted."

"You figured you'd be used to flying back and forth to Australia by now," Logan commented with a frown, as they all grabbed their stuff, heading out of the dance studio. "You do it twice a year."

"You don't get used to losing and gaining a day, mate," Rhuben replied, her accent filling her voice as she talked through her yawn. "I've got to get going, but I'll text you guys later." She started picking up her stuff, shoving them into her backpack.

"Hey, what are you working on?" James asked, grabbing a notebook, helping her put her stuff away. He flipped it open, spotting page after page filled with writing. "Do you write?"

"Do you read?" Rhuben instantly shot back, arching an eyebrow, purposefully snapping the book closed on his thumb. She motioned to the word 'CONFIDENTIAL' written on the front. "It's just some stuff. Songs. Stories. You know, that kind of stuff."

"Ooh, anything about us?" Carlos asked, wiggling his fingers towards the notebook. Rhuben pulled James's thumb out of the book before smacking Carlos's hands. "Ouch. Alright fine, I'll stay out." He grinned. "For now, anyway." Rhuben couldn't help but laugh along with everybody.

"Maybe you can hear it later." she said, motioning for them to leave the room. She flipped the lights off behind them, and locked the door with her keys before dropping them into her bag. "So, what have you guys been up to this summer?"

"Dancing, singing, getting screamed at," Kendall counted out on his fingers, "you know, the usual."

"Hoping for a back massage," James said in a sing-song voice, looking over at the shorter girl.

Rhuben ignored him. "No really! What have you been up to? I wan full details of your summer. It has to be much more interesting than me being back in Australia for three months." The four boys gave her odd looks; no it wasn't better than being in Australia. They would've given anything to have gone three months without Gustavo yelling at them.

"It's really just been same old, same old around here," Logan said with a shake of his head, laughing a little bit at her excitement. She was the type that always wanted to know what was going on with her friends even when she was away from them for half a day. "What about you? How was Oz? You must be pretty bored with your break."

After working nonstop for so many years, the Jacksons decided to take a year off from music. They were let out of their contracts with Rocque Records, and started the summer off fresh and free from meetings, rehearsals, and concerts.

"I think the more important question here is, did you find an Ozzie boyfriend?" James asked, practically pushing Logan out of the way, putting his arm around Rhuben's shoulders. "I think that's what we _all _want to know."

Logan frowned, rubbing his shoulder where James pushed him. He never understood how James could flirt with, well all girls, but both Riley and Rhuben, and have them flirt back on occasion and just call it their sense of humor. He believed the two girls whenever they said that they didn't have feelings for him, but he didn't like them sending him false hope with their flirting. But, when it all came down to it, it never hurt anybody else's friendship, so he just let it go.

"Yeah right, like I had the free time to get a boyfriend all summer," she said with a laugh and James gave a sigh of relief, causing her to lightly hit him in the stomach as they made their way out to the parking lot She followed them to the "Big Time Rush" mobile, still talking to them. "And before any of you ask, _yes_, Dak did come down to Australia for a little bit, but _no_, we aren't dating. We're _just friends_. That's it."

Logan couldn't help but smile. Ever since he met her, she had been fighting rumors that she and Dak Zevon, one of the most popular teen icons of their generation, were together. They were friends before Logan moved to California, and they _had_ been each others dates to a few industry parties, but he knew she was an old fashion girl, and she never classified her relationships as serious until someone actually _asked_ her to be their girlfriend, not just go on a few dates and claim they were together. She would correct you pretty quickly whenever she was on that subject.

But, that wasn't the first time something like that happened. Ever since she and her brothers and sister started working with Big Time Rush, there were rumors going around at one point or another that the two girls were dating one of the four boys at some random point during the year. That wasn't true at all, although they got a few good laughs out of it; mainly because most of the gossip sites never took the time to try and figure out if it was Riley or Rhuben in the picture. Logan quickly learned that people trying to pry into his personal life was something people got money off of in California, and he was putting himself in the industry for it.

"Bella, you should get going or you're going to be late," Logan said, glancing at his watch. If it was one thing he knew she hated, it was being late; whether it was herself or other people.

"Thanks, Logie," Rhuben replied, giving him a warm smile. She reached into her bag and pulled out her car keys. "Hoo-Roo."

* * *

Rhuben reached her hands up to her hair and adjusted her side ponytail before looking around Palm Woods apartment 2J. "I don't know how you can concentrate, I mean, a cool crib like this, I wonder how you guys can get _any_ homework done."

"You have to figure out how to do this on your own, and I've given you enough hints already," Logan said, keeping his eyes down in his notebook as he finished his own homework. "And it's pretty easy once you put your mind to it. Anyway, I thought you wanted to hang out."

"That's what Fridays are for," Rhuben replied, setting her chair legs down onto the ground. "You, Riles, and I always hang out."

"Yeah," Logan agreed with a nod, "we do." Ever since they were kids, the three of them tried to spend every Friday with each other, something that quickly was adapted into some sort of 'ritual' as they got older. As well, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney always spent the night at apartment 2J every Friday night. "But, even when you, Kendall, and Riley hang out, she spends some time alone with him."

"That's true," Rhuben agreed, waving her hand in the air. "Why do you think she _always_ has Kendall in last for wardrobe fitting?"

"Huh," Logan said, an amused look on his face, "I never thought of that." He then gave her a confused look. "But, you changed the subject." He gave her a grin. "Back to math." Rhuben pursed her lips, setting her chair back down on all fours. "Sorry, Bella, but you don't have the best track record with getting work done."

"I get work done," Rhuben replied, feigning annoyance. She gave a one-shoulder shrug, something else she, and her family was famous for. "I just get them done at the last minute." She then gave him a pleading look. "If you tell me how to do this now, I'll get it done faster."

Logan chuckled, shaking his head. That definitely didn't change. She was a big procrastinator, while he liked to get things done as soon as possible. But, she always amazed him that she could still get decent grades, even when putting them off at the last minute. According to her, it wasn't about when she did it, or how prepared she was, rather how much she _liked_ doing the assigned work.

"If I trusted you to do it, I'd leave you alone," Logan pointed out to her, ignoring her pleading look, with some difficulty. "Plus, I'm going out with Camille later, so I'd rather get this done as soon as I can."

Camille Roberts, one of Big Time Rush's first friend at the Palm Woods, was also Logan's girlfriend. She wasn't shy about her feelings for him; taking every opportunity she could to kiss him. A lot. She was an actress, and used her theatrics to get them out of a lot of jams. He was grateful for her, and while the PDA_ was _embarrassing, he learned to get used to it, and she helped keep him grounded. And most importantly, she understood what he wanted to do in life, why he was in California, and how hard things were.

"Math nerd," Rhuben commented, giving Logan a teasing grin, her nose wrinkling slightly, like it did whenever she was teasing someone. "Just make sure you don't get arrested for PDA." She used her shoulder to brush her hair out of her face as he started to blush. "I mean, I have some money stashed away just in case, but I'd rather not have to use it."

"Hey, I take offense to that," Logan deadpanned. He thought for a moment, "to _both _of that." He frowned. "Just because I like math, doesn't mean I'm a nerd. I need to learn it for medical school anyway. Sometimes, I don't think you worry enough." Rhuben looked up and saw that he was staring back at her. Her eyebrows twitched slightly and Logan's lips twitched into a small smile. "I'm a Virgo, it's what I do." He cleared his throat. "So, what are we doing for our birthday this year?" he asked. "Usual party on the 15th?"

He, Rhuben, and Riley were all 17 years old, turning 18 that month, September. He was born on September 14th and they were born on September 16th. When they were kids, they always had a combined birthday on the 15th something they tried to keep doing when they were reunited. And this year was big.

"Um," Rhuben used the tip of her pencil to scratch at her eyebrow, "I don't know if we want to do that this year."

Logan blinked in surprise. "But, we _always_ do that."

"Yeahh," Rhuben agreed with a nod, "but Riles and I were thinking…we _are_ turning 18." Her smile widened a little more. "You deserve to have a day to celebrate all on your own. 18 is a big deal."

"If you think it's a good idea," Logan said, still frowning. "I just thought it'd be cool to share the day."

"I already share my birthday with my sister," Rhuben pointed out, "I think that's sharing enough." Logan couldn't tell if she was joking or being serious.

"I just think—"

Logan stopped when the door to the apartment swung open and Camille walked in, smiling, a purse on her shoulder. "Hey, guys," she greeted the two of them, stopping beside Logan to give him a kiss on the cheek. "How's homework going?"

"Well enough that I'm _delighted_ to see you here," Rhuben replied with an over the top smile, giving a thumbs up. She let out a small laugh. "I've been trying to think of a good excuse to get out of here, so thanks for coming."

"No problem," Camille replied, adjusting her purse on her shoulder. "Making distractions is what I do best." She gave a small bow and the two girls laughed.

It was true. With Camille working her way up of being an actress, she helped her friends out of sticky situations, putting her acting skills to the test, making some sort of distraction to help them with a plan. For example, she dressed up as a construction worker when Big Time Rush tried to turn their dingy apartment into the crib they were currently living it.

"Dot, dot, dot?" Logan asked as Rhuben starting packing up her stuff. It was some kind of a secret code they had starting using when they were kids, to show that they couldn't finish their conversation, but wanted to finish it at a later time.

"Sure," Rhuben replied, zipping up her backpack. Logan got to his feet, too. "See ya." She gave Logan and Camille a quick hug before making her way out of the apartment.

"Hope I didn't interrupt anything important," Camille commented, briefly closing her eyes as she breathed in Logan's scent as she wrapped her arms around his waist in a hug.

"Nah, you didn't," Logan replied before giving her a kiss. "I'll just talk to her later."

"Good," Camille said with a sweet smile, "because now I'm all yours."

"Wouldn't want it any other way."

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**A/N: Yes, this was posted before, but this is a re-write. **

So, slow beginning. But, this was mainly just to introduce the characters. You'll be seeing everybody in this fic in some way shape or form. Not sure how long it's going to be yet. Each chapter will start with a horoscope/characteristic about Virgos since both Logan and Rhuben are virgos. Anyway, again, this is a request fic for _Rage-Against-Time_.

**PS: If you want to know what fics we have coming up (in no particular order) check out our tumblr page. On the left side of the column is a clickable link that says "Upcoming Fics" go check that out. :)**

**Cheers,**

**-Rhubes**


	2. Girl Time

_The Virgo is the most caring friend you will ever have. They will help you out with just about anything._

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**~2~**

"Don't you think we're a little too old to continue with this sleepover tradition?" Patrick Jackson-McGuire aske his siblings as he shifted his backpack on his back as they rode the elevator of the Palm Woos up to the second floor.

"Well, look who's being all mature nowadays," Sydney Jackson-McGuire commented, giving his older brother an amused look.

"Don't worry about him," Noah Jackson-McGuire, Patrick's twin brother, said with a smile, clapping Patrick on the shoulder. "He _always _acts this way whenever he knows he's going to be around Katie."

"Or Jo for that matter," the oldest of the group, Riley Jackson-McGuire said with a teasing grin. Patrick didn't seem to be bothered by the teasing and just shrugged. "We'll tell her you said 'hi'."

"S'all I ask," Patrick replied with a one-shoulder shrug. Sydney rolled his eyes.

"Trust me, Little Man, when you get older, you'll act the same way," Noah said to Sydney.

"God, I hope not," Sydney said with a shake of his head. He giggled when Noah reached around to his front and tickle him under his chin.

"Anyway, remember, we said this was a way to give Ronan some time to himself, and Mama Knight doesn't mind," Rhuben added as the elevator dinged and the doors slid open. "I don't think she'd ever admit it, but I think it's mainly because you guys are more well mannered then everyone else."

"We raised 'em well," Riley said in a joking, parental way. "Don't give Mama Knight a hard time ok?"

"We won't," the three boys chorused as they stepped out of the elevator. "Bye."

The two girls waved before the elevator doors slid shut and they rode up to third floor. Grabbing their pillows and sleeping bags, the two girls made their way to apartment 3I, knocking twice on the door. Jo Taylor gave them a bright smile as the door swung open.

"Hey, guys," she greeted, ushering them in side. "Camille and Stephanie are already here. Dad has to go into work early so we can't be too loud."

"Hi, Mr. Taylor," Riley and Rhuben greeted in unison giving small waves to the older man, who was sitting on the couch, watching TV, as they made their way into Jo's bedroom. Jo gave her dad a quick kiss on the cheek before following the twin girls into her room, kicking the door shut behind her. She crossed the room to her bed, spread out her arms, face planting into the blankets.

Jo rolled onto her back, smiling. She sucked in a deep breath of air, loudly exhaling. "Ahhh, it's good to be back together again," she said with a grin.

"You could've come out to Oz if you missed us that much," Riley pointed out, kicking off her shoes, throwing her stuff in the corner. "They let you out of _New Town High's_ contract for three years of New Zealand, I'm sure they'd let you off for a few days."

Jo rolled her eyes. "I didn't miss you _that_ much," she commented with a grin. "Although, with you on your break now, that means there's more time to hang out. And maybe…_finally_…guest star on _New Town High_?"

Riley and Rhuben gave identical pained expressions to which Camille and Stephanie King, the last to round out their circle of friends, burst out laughing. Jo has been asking them to guest star on her show for a while now; the more they turned her down, the more she asked. Their first reason why they couldn't was because they were simply too busy. In reality, they just didn't want to. The show was "too soap opera-y" for them.

"Just a suggestion," Jo said, putting her hands up in defense. "Just think about it, please?"

The two girls nodded, but the look on their faces showed that they weren't going to think about it at all. "Did you talk to Logan about your guys' birthday, yet?" Stephanie asked from where she was sitting on Jo's bed, moving her computer off of her lap.

"Yeah, I did yesterday," Rhuben replied with a sigh, "of course he didn't take it as great as we all hoped."

"That's Logie for ya," Riley said, seeming disinterested as she motioned for Camille, who was sitting on the floor, leaning against Jo's bed, filing her nails, to hand her the bowl of candy. "He never accepts change."

"I did kind of interrupt your conversation," Camille said, looking over at Rhuben, giving her an apologetic look.

"No worries," Rhuben replied, waving her hand in the air. "With him, there's really no perfect time to give him news like that."

At first, Riley and Rhuben didn't want to be friends with the three girls, especially with Jo. When the two of them, and their brothers were helping Big Time Rush adapt to the music industry, they were distracted by the sight of Jo, the four of them instantly getting crushes on her. While Kendall was the only one who caught her eye for a while, whether or not she wanted to admit it, it was still enough of a distraction from their job at hand to get the Australian band members annoyed.

Camille, known around the Palmwoods as the "Method Actress Queen" instantly dug her claws into Logan the moment she laid eyes on him. It took a while for him to return her feelings, but she was able to use auditions as an excuse to get close to him (and to even kiss on multiple occasions as well as slap him around a few times) and to use him as an 'audition buddy' whenever she saw fit. The Jacksons also saw her as a distraction.

Stephanie on the other hand, they easily bonded with, some could say simply because she wasn't as girl as Jo or Camille. Stephanie met the boys as she posed as the "Palmwoods Ghost", using them as actors in her no-budget thriller. While she and Carlos hit it off pretty quickly, she understood the importance of work and to quote Riley and Rhuben "didn't get in the way too much" when they were trying to work.

Because of the two girls' attitudes, Jo and Camille weren't all that thrilled on trying to be their friends as well, but they gave it a chance for Stephanie, who acted as the peace maker of the group. It also didn't hurt that they talked to Patrick, Noah, and Sydney from time to time and learned that it was just hard for them to make and to keep friends. Things went along smoothly after that.

"Pat says 'hi' by the way," Riley said to Jo who blinked at the sudden change in topic. Camille and Stephanie both "awwwwed" at the same time as Jo gave a small grin. Everybody knew of Patrick's crush on Jo. While he did end up turning his attention towards Katie after a while, and after Kendall and Jo started dating, he held a soft spot for her, and he was there to give her some kind words after their break up as well.

"He's cute," she muttered, brushing her hair behind her ears.

"Don't let him hear you say that," Rhuben deadpanned as she grabbed one of Jo's many magazines off the stack by her bedside. She laid down on the floor, using her sleeping bag as a pillow. "Give Pat an inch—"

"- and he'll take a mile," Riley finished for her twin with a shake of her head. "But, Steph, we wanted to apologize to you."

"For what?" Stephanie asked, blinking in confusion.

"We basically hired you as our backup dancer just as we decided to go on our break," Riley replied, scratching the side of her jaw. "We felt like—"

"—we were getting your hopes up," Rhuben said, cutting into Riley's sentence, "only for you to have to wait a year to really—"

"—officially perform with us," the two girls finished in unison.

"You've been doing that a lot more lately and it's _still_ creeping me out," Stephanie said with a shake of her head, her large hoop earrings bouncing off her cheeks as she adjusted her tank top strap. "You've been working since you were kids; you deserve a break. Ronan explained it all to me; I'll be spending the year going over _all_ your dances. Don't worry."

"So, you're not going to help Big Time Rush anymore?" Camille asked, up from her finger nails, pointing the nail file at her two friends. "That's a bummer. You've just been doing it for a while. You'll have so much free time now."

"We still will from time to time," Riley replied with the Jackson family famous one-shoulder shrug, "It's more out of habit now that we head over to Rocque Records around noon. Besides, it's not much of a break anyway. Either we're insanely bored, or we're busy doing other things." She let out a heavy sigh. "Like looking for a birthday gift for Logie." She then peered at Camille, her eyes narrowing slightly. "What are you getting Logan for his birthday, anyway?"

"I have no idea yet," Camille said with a heavy sigh. "What are you doing?" She ran her fingers through her hair, fluffing it out.

"I'm making him his favorite Japanese dish, Oyakodon," Riley replied, grabbing a handful of pretzels from the bowl nearest her. She shoved a handful into her mouth, chewing loudly. "I'm going to be in the kitchen anyway since I'm making him his cake."

"Just make sure it's—"

"Chocolate, I know," Riley said, putting her hand in the air, cutting Camille off. She swallowed thickly. "Don't worry about it, Camille. I've got it covered."

"I just want his birthday to be great, that's all," Camille explained with a small smile, "I mean, he's turning 18 after all. That's a big deal."

"Dude, remember Dak's party?" Riley asked with a roll of her eyes. "Circus performers, magicians, the works; his mom and dad went crazy."

Camille laughed. "And Rhubes wouldn't talk to him for a while afterwards because of the clowns." Rhuben merely grinned from behind the magazine. "I promise there won't be any clowns at Logan's party." She reached over and shook Rhuben's foot and Rhuben gave a thumb's up in reply. "I want it simple but fun, something to talk about for a while."

"I could talk to Dak and see if he has suggestions for a venue or something," Rhuben suggested to her friend, lowering her magazine. "Are you sure there's nothing we can do to help with the party, Camille?"

"I've got it all under control, don't worry," Camille replied, putting her hand up in the air. "But, thanks for the offer." She gave a sheepish grin. "I just want his party to be perfect."

"And you'll drive yourself perfectly insane if you think you can handle this all on your own," Jo replied, lying down on her stomach, folding her hands under her chin.

Camille was pretty quick to stress out; showing off her stress in different ways. The first, with Camille being annoyed with how Logan was hitting on Jo when he first met her, did he storm up to him with some monologue and start kissing him all over. She was normally very level headed, but like everyone, she had her moments where she didn't think rationally.

Jo suddenly sat up, letting out a loud gasp. "I know a _great_ gift for you to get Logan," Jo said, slowly smiling from ear to ear. Camille gave her a confused look. "I think a stop to Victoria's Secret is in order." She shuffled through the stack of magazines before tossing one in Camille's lap.

"I don't think that's such a good idea," Camille said, shaking her head rapidly from side to side. "Jo, I'm not going to get him lingerie."

"It's not for _him_ it's for _you_," Jo replied with a roll of her eyes. She then paused to think. "Well, I guess it'd be for him anyway since you'd be the one to wear it." She gave her friend a wicked grin. "You have the body for it. I think it'd be great."

"Just make sure he opens it when you guys are alone," Stephanie offered, with a grin.

"We haven't even talked about _that_," Camille said, blushing furiously. She looked over at Riley and Rhuben who suddenly looked very interested in their finger nails. She rolled her eyes when she noticed they were trying not to laugh. It was obvious they weren't going to try and back her up. "Some friends you are."

"Just make sure it's something in blue," Rhuben said as Riley started to laugh. "He loves that color on you."

"How do you know that?" Camille asked, looking up in shock.

"He told us," Riley and Rhuben replied in unison.

She knew that Riley, Rhuben, and Logan had been friends for years, and had to rebuild their friendship once they met each other again in LA. She was happy for him; she knew how much their friendship meant to them when they were kids. At the same time, it bothered her to know that there were things about him that she did not know, despite dating him for a while. She could chalk it up as to it being her own fault, they did kiss more than they actually sat down and talked, whereas all they _did_ was talk. It was what their friendship was based on.

At the same time, when she and Logan talked, they _talked_. She got to learn Logan the person, not just Logan the boy band member. She learned his hopes and dreams of being a doctor, how he did actually like singing but never thought of making a career out of it, and his worries about what his friends were going through when they had first met up with each other again. It was she who he turned to when he found out about their abuse. She had never seen him so vulnerable; practically crying and blaming himself for not noticing the signs before. That was the last time they actually talked. She often wondered if he had ever fully gotten over the breaking news, but knew not to ask him.

Camille had a good relationship with the twin girls on the other hand. At first, they were pretty distant with her and Jo and Stephanie, and were pretty sarcastic and kind of mean, and it frustrated her, until she learned why. But, she was happy to know that the girls had become friends with the three of them (and Katie) faster than with the boys. After learning of their abuse, that made sense as well. It wasn't that long before they started going to the mall, enjoying late night group skype chats, and other things. Camille loved her girl friends dearly, but couldn't help but wonder what other secrets they were hiding. They were all such good liars, and they had a dry sense of humor; she could never fully know what it was that they were thinking.

Match that with their rising popularity and fame, it was pretty intimidating. But, she tried not to let that on. She'd had spent countless nights trying to explain to the two girls why she thought they were intimidating much to their shock. It was as if they never realized it. They had barely ever held onto friends and could never understand why. It hurt Camille's heart to know it, but also made her happy knowing they accepted her as a friend.

And all of that was the reason why she wanted Logan's 18th birthday to be so special. She wanted to she wanted to show Logan that she was truly there for him, and that he could count on her for things. Most importantly, she wanted to show how much he meant to her. Sure, she had mentioned to him from time to time during their many make-out sessions, but she didn't know if he thought she was just saying it in the heat of the moment .She wanted to show him, most importantly, that she was someone he could really trust without a second thought and show that if she could handle something as big and extravagant as that, that she could handle his fame and always be there for him.

At least, that's what he hoped she'd be able to portray with the party.

"Riles and I are free to help with the party if you need us," Riley said, filling in the silence of the room, "Pat, No, and Syd, too."

"You'll be the first to know," Camille promised as she flipped through the pages of the magazine. "Actually, this is really cute." She pointed to a blue slip that looked like a corset type dress, but was obviously a form of sleepwear. She twirled her hair around her finger, letting out a "Hmmmm."

"While Camille ponders over this," Jo said, turning towards Rhuben, "are these gossip sites lying or did Dak actually go spend some time with you in New Zealand."

"Us!" Rhuben all but snapped, smacking her legs with the magazine, "He went to New Zealand to visit _us_, not just me. And it was only for a day or two before he went to New Zealand." Camille looked up a the sudden shout. Sure, Rhuben did get annoyed from the topic from time to time, but she never actually got mad at people for it.

"If I didn't know any better I'd say you were annoyed with this topic," Stephanie commented, picking at a thread on her shirt.

Rhuben instantly relaxed into a grin, laughing a little bit before giving Jo a look of apology, to which the blonde girl waved her hand in the air, showing that she didn't take offense to it. It was no wonder people referred to her as the peace maker of the group. She could easily calm her friends down if they were stressed out or fighting with each other about something.

"It's just an old topic," Rhuben said with a roll of her eyes. "I mean, I've learned to laugh at it from time to time, but people want us to get together so bad, they just won't take 'I'm not interested in him' for an answer."

"To be honest with you, I'm surprised there aren't rumors going around that we're dating all of the boys at one time," Riley said with a snort. "The boys" she was referring to was Kendall, James, Carlos, and Logan. Both she and Riley referred to Big Time Rush as "the boys" or "my boys" and their younger brothers as "the kids." They always gave nicknames to their friends, and this was one of the group nicknames that they shared.

"They are, you just don't know where to look," Jo said with a small laugh. Being the queen of gossip in the group, no one was that surprised to hear Jo say that. "So, Rhubes, if you don't like Dak, who do you like?"

"No one," Rhuben replied, going back to the magazine she was reading, "I don't have time to date anyone, anyway."

"Because we're _so busy_ right now," Riley said with over the top enthusiasm, giving her sister a thumbs up. Camille, Jo, and Stephanie started to laugh. As Jo's laughter subsided, she raised her eyebrows in Riley's direction. "She's not lying; she doesn't have feelings for Dak at all, they're just good friends."

"I still can't believe you guys and Logan have known each other all these years," Camille commented, brushing her hair out of her face as she continued to flip through the magazine, "who knew you'd ever meet up again."

"Yeah, it's pretty cool," Riley replied, pulling the bowl of pretzels into her lap. "Let's watch a movie or something. Or are we going to gossip all night?" She spotted the smile on Jo's face. "I'm not really giving you an option with that, just so you know, mate."

"Fine," Jo said with a fake huff as she got off her bed. "Let me go find a movie." She made her way out of her room. They could hear Jo talking to her dad, but couldn't make out what they were saying.

Camille reached for her phone as it vibrated against the floor.

**Logan: **Sleepover going well? Talking about us guys?

**Camille: **Maybe. ;) Yeah, going well, why?

**Logan: **Rhu just seemed a little sad lately. Wanted to know if you noticed?

Camille looked up from her cell phone and over at Rhuben. She was now sitting next to Riley, laughing as Stephanie seemed to be doing a bad impression of someone who had auditioned to be a backup dancer for them. Camille didn't think Rhuben was upset, or even Riley for that matter as the two of them, whether they noticed or not, seemed to evoke the same emotion if one of them wasn't having that great of a day.

**Camille: **Seems fine. I'll keep an eye on her for you.

**Logan: **Thx. She'd kill me if I tried. Love you.

**Camille: **Love you, too.

She truly did love Logan; and he accepted her feelings even when she showed it often times in over the top and embarrassing ways. But, that was the closest they ever said "I love you" to each other. Camille hoped to change that soon.

* * *

**A/N:** (I meant to have this posted up way earlier than now).I don't like the ending so much, but I've always found sleepover chapters a little difficult to do. Anyway, you'll see a whole bunch of people in this fic as well as other pairings (romantic and friendship) but this is mainly focused on the Lomille and Lella pairing.

**PS: **The Virgo "quotes" are in reference to the summary of the chapter, not necessarily to the people in the fic who _are _Virgos. Just wanted to explain this just in case people were confused. Camille isn't a Virgo (that I know of ).

**Cheers,**

**-Rhubes**


	3. Friendly Talk

_Virgos will suffer in silence while giving you the impression that everything's okay._

* * *

**~3~**

The front door to the Zevon house swung open and Dak Zevon blinked in surprise, before giving Rhuben a warm smile. Rhuben instantly noticed that his fingers were covered with paint. He had a splotch or two on his neck and some drips on his t-shirt.

"And to what do I owe this pleasure of you standing on my door step?" he asked, leaning against the door frame, crossing his arms over his chest.

"In your case, do I really need a reason for it?" Rhuben replied and Dak shook his head. "Hope I'm not interrupting your painting."

"I just got done, actually," Dak replied. "So, what's up?"

"Well, I came to talk to Li—"

"Dak, why didn't you tell me you were having some friends over?" Mrs. Zevon asked, cheerfully, walking over to the door. Dak grimaced, pinching the bridge of his nose for a moment.

"Well, Mom . . ." He glanced over at Rhuben for a moment. "It was kind of unplanned." Rhuben gave a sheepish grin, mouthing 'Sorry' to him to which he responded with a brief shrug. "You remember Rhuben?"

"Yes, yes," Mrs. Zevon replied, motioning for Rhuben to step inside. "Well, it's been a while since you've been over here!" Rhuben kept her face as netural as possible, but Dak's mom was acting very strange, and it was hard for the younger teen to not make a face or call her out on it as she crossed the foyer.

"Yeah, I've been pretty busy," Rhuben replied, giving Mrs. Zevon a small smile as Dak moved to close the door behind the two girls. "But, my work load has decreased; we're taking a year off from music. We haven't really taken a break since we started, so…" She let the sentence hang in the air. "But, we do still help he Big Time Rush boys from time to time."

"Well, maybe you can come over more then," Mrs. Zevon offered.

"Uh, yeah, maybe," Rhuben replied, blinking in surprise for a moment, looking over at Dak out of the corner of her eye. He shifted awkwardly, keeping his eyes on the ground.

"I'll just let you two talk," Mrs. Zevon said with a small clap of her hands. "Would you like anything to drink?"

"No, thank you, Mrs. Zevon, I can't stay long," Rhuben replied with a shake of her head.

"Please, dear, call me Jen," Mrs. Zevon said, placing her hand on Rhuben's shoulder, giving it a squeeze. She must've noticed the uncomfortable look on Rhuben's face as she pulled her hands back, seconds later, as if she got scalded. "It was nice seeing you again. I hope you come around sometime."

"What was that?" Rhuben asked, pointing after Jen as she made her way out of the room, her heels clacking on the floor beneath her. Dak merely glanced after his mom before looking back at her. "Ohhh. She heard about our announcement."

"Yeah, Lizz and I told mom and dad the same day," Dak replied, scratching the back of his head, looking embarrassed. "Now they're trying to be…_nice _about the situation."

"As if they're trying to make up for everything I've been through by being overly nice," Rhuben replied slowly nodding. Dak gave a short nod. "As if I haven't gotten enough sympathy already."

And if it was one thing Rhuben really hated, it was unwanted sympathy. She could easily tell when people were being nice to her or doing nice things for her just because they heard about her past. It was as if they thought that because she had been abused for so long she couldn't do anything on her own. She was happy to have the friends she did have; while they did tip toe around the subject, they had known her long enough to know that as long as things stayed normal between them, they wouldn't have any problems. Now, unless the subject was brought up, it was as if that event never occurred, they were just that close.

"So how are you doing, anyway?" Dak asked, making his way over to the intercom. His finger hovered over a button as he looked at her over his shoulder. "Free time boredom, hit you yet?"

"You have no idea," Rhuben replied with a shake of her head. Dak laughed before pressing his finger into a button, calling for his sister. "I know I'll get used to it eventually; I'm just so used to being on the move all the time. I just need to find stuff to fill up my free time, that's all."

"Trust me, once you get used to it; you'll never want it to go away," Dak said as he dropped his arm to look at her. "So, what do you need to talk to Lizzie about?

"You don't have to sound that down about it," Rhuben teased. Dak stuck his tongue out at her and the two of them started to laugh.

At first, Rhuben wasn't too fond of Dak, with how he always wanted to go out on a date with her. Some people would think it was sweet with all the attention he was giving her, but she wasn't used to it. It actually kind of creeped her out and put her on edge; she was waiting for something bad to happen, like all bad things happened to her.

When he figured out about her abuse, did everything make sense to him and he gave her space, complimenting her here and there, to show that he wasn't going to do anything to hurt her. And he was always there to listen to her, which is what made her friendship with him so special; he understood her frustrations in the business and, unlike Logan, wouldn't offer advice on what to do, or to be realistic about the whole thing, but try and find something to get her mind off of it.

They both understood that things weren't always going to go their way with press or what the fans thought (most of it having to do with the constant rumors of the two of them dating when they're in fact not), but they had to show that life went on and that they had to roll with the punches.

But Rhuben valued her friendship with both boys as Dak was spontaneous and was up for anything. In contrast Logan was a little more reserved and calculated, both types of people she needed in her hectic and busy life to keep her grounded, but also to keep her entertained.

"Am I interrupting something?" asked a sweet voice.

Rhuben turned around to see Dak's little sister, Lizzie Zevon, smirking at the sight of her brother and her female company. Rhuben didn't even have to ask what she was smirking about. Lizzie knew that her brother has had a crush on Rhuben ever since he met her, and ever since she met _him_, she's been turning him down every time he asked her out.

She was saved when a small, black labradoodle puppy bounded over to her, carrying a stuffed bone in its mouth. "Hey, Milo," Rhuben greeted the puppy with a bright smile as she crouched down to lift the puppy into her arms. She placed a kiss ontop of his head. "How are you? "I never thought your parents would cave on getting you guys another dog. I mean, it's just more work for your maids."

Dak and Lizzie's parents, Curt and Jen Zevon, prided themselves with their lifestyle. They were both successful casting directors, having selected the lead roles in the popular movie, _Mega 4_. But, that was only the most recent success they've had. The idea of a pet was always out of the question due to them not wanting to see dog hair on everything. Only when Dak and Lizzie both promised that they'd be the ones to clean up after the dog, did they give in the first time and they got Dak's dog, Snowball. Seeing how well they took care of him, did they later on agree on a second dog. It also didn't hurt that they were in good moods as one of the kids they selected to play the lead role of _Mega 4 _won an award for "Best Newcomer."

Dak rolled his eyes, sliding a paint covered hand into his pocket. "I clean up after Milo, not that it's any of your business," he replied.

"You're purposely changing the subject," Lizzie said with a grin, looking back and forth between the two friends, her hair flying into her face. Lizzie had blonde hair, while Dak had brown hair, just like their mom and dad, although they had the same hazel colored eyes. Dak rolled his eyes.

He remembered when his parents first told him that he was going to have a baby sister. He was excited and had planned way in advanced what he would teach her and that he would always be there for her whenever he needed it. Despite their arguments from time to time, he liked to think he kept up with his personal promise. Especially with her about to turn 16, he was more likely to be overprotective of her, but she knew that it was coming from a good place.

"Lizzie, you know you're not," Dak answered her question, looking over at her.

"Hey, Lizzie," Rhuben greeted the younger girl with a wave. Rhuben had met Lizzie a few years prior when she taught a dance class at her school as a guest lecturer for the day. It was because of Rhuben that Lizzie really got into dance. They'd hit it off since; and it didn't hurt that she became fast friends with her young her brothers.

"Heyyy," Lizzie replied with a smile before giving the older girl a hug. Rhuben could only hug her back with one arm as she held Milo with the other. Lizzie then narrowed her eyes into a look of confusion. "What'd you want to talk to me about?"

"Well, first, Riles, the girls, and I were going to head down to the mall sometime this week to get stuff for Logan's birthday," Rhuben explained, sliding her hands into her back jeans pockets, "we wanted to know if wanted to come with." Lizzie's eyes lit up as soon as she heard the word "mall."

"Ooh, yes," Lizzie said with a grin, clasping her hands together. "Surf-N-Turf has got some new rash guards coming in and I wanted to see if they've got that black and pink one I've been wanting for a while. You know the, the one with the white star? Oh, and I've wanted to get some new dance shoes, but I wasn't sure which so could I get your opinion on them?" She jerked her thumb towards the stairs. "I'll go get the magazine to show you. They're _really_ cute and—"

"Breathe, Lizz," Dak said with a roll of his eyes, placing his free hand on his sister's shoulder. "It's important that you _breathe_." Lizzie respected Rhuben not only as a dancer and as a person; she looked up to her as if she was her big sister (much like Katie did to Riley) and always asked for her advice or thoughts and opinions on things.

"That's not all I wanted," Rhuben added, her smile of amusement disappearing slightly. A serious look then crossed her face. "Riles and I have been talking…you and Katie don't feel left out of the sleepovers that we have with the girls do you?"

"Sometimes," Lizzie replied with a shrug. "But, we have fun and you guys take us out to get ice cream and stuff and just to hang out, so that's ok. Why?"

"We've _all_ been talking and…we've noticed that we've really been about ourselves for a while now," Rhuben said, shifting her attention to both Lizzie and Dak. "Our abuse, trying to stay together, our music, our lives. We don't think it's fair to you guys. That's also part of the reason why we decided to take the break, to really sit down and see what it is in our lives, and about us personally, that we can and want to change."

"If it's anything that I've quickly learned about you guys, is that you're not selfish people no matter what you think," Dak said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Especially you and Riles."

"That's so sweet," Lizzie practically cooed.

"Sis, stop being such a hopeless romantic okay?" Dak asked, briefly closing his eyes.

"You can never be too sure," Lizzie said in a sing-song voice as she motioned for Rhuen to hand her Milo. The black dog started to lick her cheek and chin. "You'll see. One of these days; you'll see."

"Not my fault she's stubborn," Dak said, looking directly at Rhuben, although he was talking to his sister.

"And don't you forget it," Rhuben replied with a grin. "Last I checked, no one ever said being stubborn was a bad thing." She then gave Dak a teasing smile. "Although in _this _case—"

"Shut up," Dak replied in a monotone.

"Oh my gosh, you guys," Lizzie cried, rolling her eyes, "You have been talking and flirting for years!" She set Milo on the ground and put her hands on her hips. "It's obvious that you guys are into each other."

"I'll have her changing her mind in no time," Dak replied with a smirk and a wink.

"You wish," Rhuben scoffed with a shake of her head, even though a smile tried to force its way onto her face. "You're so sure of yourself.

"Why shouldn't I be?" he asked, arching an eyebrow.

"See?" Lizzie asked, widening her eyes. "That's exactly what I mean! Why don't you guys just date already and get it over with?"

"I'm not interested and I'm not looking for a boyfriend right now," Rhuben replied, "you know that. I've got enough on my plate right now with all these interviews Ronan's setting up because of the abuse announcement and everything else."

"I'm just saying, he might be a dimwit, but you guys would be great together," Lizzie said, practically bouncing on her toes. She stopped when her cell phone started to ring. She pulled her phone out of her pocket, glancing at the screen. "Oh, that's Katie. We're going to go ice skating tomorrow if you want to come with us." She set Milo on the ground, answering her phone before turning back towards Rhuben. "Come say 'Bye' to me before you leave."

"Got it," Rhuben called after her as she hurried towards the stairs, laughing at something Katie said over the phone. "So, what are you getting Logan for his birthday?" Dak noticed the sudden subject change, but didn't call her out on it.

"What makes you think I'm actually getting him anything?" Dak answered Rhuben's question, turning away from the foyer, making his way towards the living room. He followed her and he sat down on the couch,leaning back, resting his head on the arm rest of the couch. He stretched out his legs, crossing his ankles. He spotted the pointed look on her face as she sat down and rolled his. "Kidding."

"You better be," Rhuben muttered.

"We're not exactly the best of friends, Sugar Plum," Dak pointed out to her. He grinned when he spotted the annoyed look on her face at the sound of the nickname he gave her.

One of the Jacksons most famous traits, besides their one-shoulder shrug, was to show their friendship with someone by giving them a nickname. They all call Dak, either Teen Icon, as a playful jab at him having a "big ego" over his popularity, or DZ for his initials. Rhuben preferred to call him Dizzy. To quote her, it was because he had asked her out on so many dates, so quickly, it made her head spin, and not in a good way.

In return, their friends gave the Jacksons nicknames as well. While most people called Rhuben, Rhubes, as a shortened form of her full name Rhubella, Dak called her Sugar Plum, a name she hated to be called. He called her that because of how much she loves the color purple and more importantly because of her love of dance.

"I'll figure something out, don't worry," Dak replied, waving his hand in the air. "I think the most important question is: what are you and Riles going to get him?"

"We were going to get him a motorcycle, since he said he's always wanted one, but we kind of decided against it as it would still take a while for him to get license for it," Rhuben replied. Dak's eyes widened slightly."What?"

"A _motorcycle_?" Dak asked, raising his eyebrows. "Ronan was actually going to let you blow that much money on him?"

"I'm allowed to use my money on whatever I want," Rhuben replied, looking up at him and Dak raised his eyebrows even higher. "With his permission." Dak gave her a suspicious look. "Which I didn't have, ok?"

"That's what I thought," Dak replied, an amused look on his face. "Well, at least you're actually getting your money this time. Unlike…you know." Rhuben nodded.

When Robert was still around, despite all the money that Rhuben and her siblings got through tours, promotion, CD sales, and everything else, they barely saw a penny of it. Robert claimed that he was keeping the money safe, but he would spend it on alcohol or whatever else he thought he deserved at the time.

Things were different with Ronan around; they were allowed to use their money on whatever they wanted (with big things they had to get Ronan's permission for it, and his unwanted opinion), whenever they wanted. He even trusted them to take his credit cards to pay for things, but only with the stipulation that they had to tell him exactly when they were taking it and what they were getting with it.

"You sounded really shocked," Rhuben said.

"Well, Camille's planning all of this, right?" Dak asked after a moment of silence. Rhuben nodded. "Well, hypothetically speaking, if I was a girl and dating Logan—" Rhuben let out a loud bark of laughter "I wouldn't be too happy if his girl best friend, who he used to like as a kid, got him something that expensive."

"Camille would be ok with it," Rhuben replied, brushing her hair behind her ear. "She thought it was a good idea, actually. She understands our friendship."

"As long as she doesn't think you're throwing your money around, I guess," Dak said with a shrug and a sigh. "I'd just be careful. I mean, Logan was openly honest with his cracks about my lifestyle about how much money my family has, but I don't see Camille being the same way. Just try not to over shadow her, that's all."

"It's ironic that you say that considering I want to be _out _of the spotlight right now," Rhuben said with a shake of her head. "Camille would talk to me about this, Dizzy; really. Everything's fine." She then peered closely at him. "Look, I'll be your date to the party as long as you behave yourself," Rhuben said, with a shake of her head, looking amused. "Got it?"

"Got it!" Dak replied with a smile.

That was a little bit of a joke between them now. When Dak and Logan first met, they weren't that fond of each other. Logan wasn't all that happy knowing that Rhuben had another close friend, not that he was jealous, but because he desperately wanted to try and recreate their childhood friendship, and how close they were. And Dak didn't like how Logan always had a comment about how well off he was; as if he didn't have to work to get it. His parents did own and buy him flashy stuff, but he wasn't like his parents, and wanted people to like him for him.

Once they actually had to talk it out, did they clear the air and agreed to at least be civil towards each other. They'd consider themselves more as acquaintances than friends. Dak helped he Jackson help Big Time Rush when they first arrived in California, but that dwindled down after a while when Dak continued his music career with musical theater.

"Of course, you realize that if you didn't I'd probably just chill at the snack table with a plate full of cake and over-indulge in my loneliness."

"Not like you wouldn't do that anyway, Dizzy," Rhuben shot back, laughing a little bit, "what with your lack of coordination. I swear, I'm amazed you actually get your roles in those musicals."

"You're making this birthday thing kind of a big deal," Dak suddenly commented, instantly gaining Rhuben's attention. "I mean, yeah, it's Logan's 18th, I get that, but still." He tilted his head to the side. "I thought you guys always shared a birthday party." Rhuben looked like she didn't want to explain things to him. She open and closed her mouth a few times before deciding to tell him.

"Riles and I wanted it to be separate this year," Rhuben replied with her one-shoulder shrug, "because we didn't want to take away the attention from him." Dak gave her a confused look. "There was a time where Riles and I didn't think we'd make it to see 18." She put her hands up in a half-hearted 'ta-da' kind of way. "So, we'd rather celebrate that we're all here and happy then celebrate our birthday."

Silence fell over the two of them and Rhuben grabbed her phone, "checking" see if she had any emails, text messages, or if there was anything going on Scuttlebutter; giving herself and excuse not to say anything.

"And you didn't think Logan would understand that?" Dak finally asked, looking surprised.

"Logan hates change," Rhuben said bluntly and Dak snorted. "No matter what the reasoning for something, good or bad, he practically flips out. Which he pretty much did when I told him that we wanted separate birthdays."

"I can see how that would be a problem," Dak agreed, nodding. "But, he can't fault Camille for wanting his birthday to be special."

"Once he finds out that Camille is planning everything he can't fault, her, no," Rhuben corrected him, pointing her finger at him, still looking down at her phone. "But other than that, Logan's pretty oblivious at times." Dak peered at her. "What?"

"I was just thinking…with your birthday," Dak slowly replied, "You deserve to be happy, you know?"

Rhuben raised her eyebrows, using one hand to brush her hair away from her face as she looked up from her phone. "I know."

"I'm worried that…maybe you'll be thinking about Robert and everything you've been through in a bad way. Like, I don't know, maybe you'll slide back and…don't think you're worth it," Dak continued. He gave her a small smile. "And you are worth it. You've handled things well."

"For now," Rhuben replied with a nod and a worried look crossed Dak's face.

"Is everything ok?" he asked, sitting up. "Did something happen?"

"No, everything's fine," Rhuben said, waving her hand in the air, a weird kind of sad smile coming to her face. "I'm just kind of expecting something bad to happen. It always seems to come around at some point when good things are happening."

"Well, WayneWayne's coming back from Canada soon, you have all this free time to do whatever you want, and you've announced your biggest secret to the world without a lot of backlash," Dak said, counting off on his fingers. "You have every right to happy. That's one thing you can change about yourself; you can stop expecting the worst to happen." He then slapped himself on the forehead. "And speaking of 'happy' I _am _getting Logan something for his birthday; a painting." He wiggled his fingers at her. "Easiest thing to do instead of shopping for him."

"At least you're competent about something," Rhuben replied, deadpan before she started to laugh.

"Do you _really_ get that much enjoyment out of putting me down?" Dak asked.

"And _turning_ you down; yes," Rhuben replied with a nod. "But, now I'm kind of worried. You don't know Logan like I do; you might paint him something weird."

"Give me a little credit," Dak said with a snort, "with how much you've talked about him once you guys met up again; I feel like I've known him for just about as long as you have." He then gave her a teasing smile. "And to think I've been spending all this time chasing after you; Logan will always be your number one priority."

"Oh, shut up!" Rhuben laughed, grabbing a couch pillow, whacking him in the side with it. "Yes, I used to have a crush on Logan, but that's long gone now. And he's _not _my number one priority. I have different friendships with you guys; and I need them _both_ in my life. One's not more important over the other." She gave him a teasing smile. "Or maybe Logan's _is _more important; I mean…he _does _give me Ring Pops."

"I give you attention!" Dak cried, pretending to be mad.

"I'd take the Ring Pops over attention any day," Rhuben said with a laugh. As her laughter faded, she looked thoughtful, as if she was going to say something else. She then got to her feet. "I should get going. It was Riley's turn to look after Sydney. Pat and No are having their 'father-son' day with Ronan today. He's probably driving her up the wall by now."

I'll go get Lizzie," Dak said, getting to his feet.

"Ok," Rhuben replied. She turned towards Milo as he started to tug on the bottom of her jeans, trying to get her attention. "He's right, though," she said to the puppy, "I have taken everything well. Maybe even a little too well." She let out a heavy sigh, scratching his back. "I just wish I'd get over this. I hate being afraid of messing up; wondering what'll happen if I do." Milo barked once, licking her hand.

* * *

**A/N: **The story pics up from here; I just wanted to give an introduction to the three _main _main characters. But, like I said, you'll be seeing a little bit of everybody in this fic. (Introduction chapters are the ones that are the hardest for me to write, and the ones i hate to write the most). Oh, and the flirting becomes important after a while, too.

Anyway, Rhuben's plot to this fic, besides falling for Logan, kinda/sorta has a similar plot to my other fic _Simply Irresistible_, but not at the same time, if that makes sense. You'll just have to continue reading to find out what happens. And this is strictly a Della (Dak/Rhuben) friendship and Lella (Logan/Rhuben) romance (besides the Camille/Logan/Rhuben love triangle) fic.

**Cheers,**

**-Rhubes**


	4. No Worries

_Virgos do not like to talk about their problems because they hate to appear weak or vulnerable._

* * *

**~4~**

"Ouch!" Logan yelped as he was jabbed in the thigh with a pin. Riley barely glanced up at him, removing the pin that was sitting between her lips, jabbing it into the stuffed, red '11' billiards ball strapped to her wrist. "Would you be careful?"

"Would _you _stop moving?" Riley asked, sitting back on her heels, shaking her head. "This'd go a lot faster if you stopped wiggling around, mate. I don't _have_ to do this you know." She reached towards the footstool that sat near her, grabbing the partially eaten Ring Pop that was sitting on a plate, and stuck it in her mouth.

"I know, I know," Logan said with a heavy sigh, "and I appreciate you coming in to help." He glanced around the half straightened, half cluttered costume closet of Rocque Records as Riley went back to finishing altering his clothes. "I really do."

"Wouldn't bring the Ring Pop if you didn't," Riley replied, hooking the candy to her finger before continuing what she was doing. "So, what's with the—for a lack of better words—big time rush on altercations?" She stood up, pulling the tape measure that hung around her neck. "Gustavo practically broke the speaker on my phone commanding me to come down here."

"We've got an important meeting with Griffin coming up," Logan explained, spreading his arms out to the sides, slowly spinning in a circle as Riley indicated. "The press is going to be there and everything; we're announcing our third album and our summer tour."

"Ah, which explains all the boxes of clothes from James," Riley replied, nodding her head towards the stack of boxes in the corner. "New tour, new look, new James." She sighed, stepping back. "You're looking fine, mate."

"Thanks, Landy, I really appreciate this," Logan said as he dropped his arms to his sides. Logan's smile quickly turned into a look of pain as she pulled is hand back, having just jabbed his palm. "Ouch."

"Ooh, must've left a pin in there," Riley said, making a face. "But, while we're on the topic of new looks—"

"I'm _not_ cutting my hair," Logan said with a heavy sigh as Riley stepped forward to pull the pin out of the fabric. "I don't get what everyone's complaining about."

"Your hair is as crunchy as Patrick's," Riley replied, deadpan as she stuck the pin into the billiards ball. "I'm happy you don't use as much gel, but I've gotta admit, it looked better when you first got here, not too short, not too long. You looked cute."

"And now?" Logan asked, stepping off the stool, motioning for her to hand him his jeans. He then moved to stand behind a rack of clothes as he changed.

"You're buff," Riley replied. Logan could practically hear the smirk in her voice. "But, I'd take the time to define your muscles a little more."

Logan pretended to cry, sniffing loudly, as he zipped up his pants, buttoned them and then stepped back out from behind the clothes as she started to pack up. "Are you saying I'm fat?" he asked in a mock high-pitched voice.

"I'm saying lift some weights to show some cuts, that's all," Riley replied, putting her hands up defensively. "You've gained muscle mass from everything, which is great, it's just been kinda sitting in your adorable face." She said the last part in kind of a baby voice, reaching out her hands to pinch his cheeks.

"Stop," Logan said with a small laugh, pushing her hands away. "You better not let Camille hear you say that."

"What? My calling you adorable? You are, Logie-Bear," Riley said, waving her hand in the air, "you _all_ are." She paused and looked over at Logan. "Don't tell James I said that." Logan grinned, miming the 'zip your lip' motion. "I know she's kinda…protective of you, but she gets our friendship. Besides, she'd tell me if it was bothering her."

"Yeah," Logan replied with a nod, "you're right."

Camille had gotten better with how protective of Logan she was after a while. When she first met him, she would pretty much warn every girl that got ten feet near him, that she was interested and that she should back off. Logan thought it was odd at first, as he couldn't quite understand _why_ Camille liked him, but once he returned her feelings did he just see that she wasn't afraid to show her emotions towards him at all. He chalked it up to how many acting classes she's taken over the years; it was hard to have her _not _take risks, both acting wise and in real life.

They did have their ups and downs, breaking up and getting back together a few times (one of the main reasons being that James and Camille kissed, something that really hurt Logan, despite it not being either of their intentions), but they knew they worked well together. And whenever they did break up, Logan was just anxious for the day for them to get back together. He missed being apart from her, but he knew that in some cases they just needed some time to cool off from each other.

While he was gone on his "All Over the World" tour he talked to Camille a few times, keeping their friendship growing, and he found that he wanted to get back together with her as soon as they got back. But, was worried when she didn't tackle him the minute she saw him. It was something she always did; showing her excitement of having him back. When he learned that she was just trying not to be too forward that time around, did he realize how much he cared for her.

"You're such a worry wart," Riley said with a shake of her head. "Anyway—" She and Logan jumped as the door to the costume closet was practically kicked open and Patrick and Noah made their way inside, with Lizzie and Katie following behind. "G'day, sheilas."

"Hey, Riles," Lizzie greeted her with a small wave, hiking her purse up her shoulder as Katie moved to give her a hug. "We're ready to go."

"Go?" Riley repeated.

"You said you'd take us ice skating, remember?" Katie asked, brushing her hair from her face.

"Was that today?" Riley asked before slapping herself in the forehead. "I completely forgot. Rhubes and I said we'd go with Ronan and Matt to check out some bands down in Orange County, today." Matt was one of the main reasons as to the Jacksons being discovered in America. He was an old friend of Ronan's and his job at Blazing Phoenix Records was to go around searching for possible new clients.

"And to think all we've done for you," Patrick said, slowly shaking his head from side to side, crossing his arms over his chest. "You couldn't sacrifice one day to cart us around."

"I decided not to kill you all these years, I think that's sacrifice enough," Riley deadpanned, looking annoyed as Patrick laid his arm on top of her head. She and Rhuben both hated it when their younger brothers grew taller than them.

"It's no big deal, Pat," Noah said, with a shake of his head, brushing his long hair out of his face. "They always cart us around. _We're _the ones without our licenses." He gave Riley a patient smile. "We can take the bus."

"I knew there was a reason I liked you more," Riley replied, giving Noah a grin. He gave her a brief grin as Patrick rolled his eyes. "Not as much as Sydney, though." It was Noah's turn to roll his eyes.

"If we're going to go, then let's get going," Katie said impatiently, planting her hands on her hips. "I want to have _some_ skating time before the hockey bozos take over."

"Say 'hi' to your brother for me," Riley said with a smirk, causing the four teens to laugh.

"I'll take them Riles," Logan offered, slipping his feet into his shoes. He stomped hard on the ground, twice, forcing his feet in without untying the laces. Riley silently raised her eyebrows. "It's no problem. In fact, I'm sure Camille would like to go ice skating, too."

"No offense, but—"

Lizzie slapped her hand over Patrick's mouth, stopping him from finishing his sentence. "We really appreciate it, Logan," she said, batting her eyelashes in Logan's direction as he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. Noah frowned, looking unsure.

"It's no problem at all," Logan repeated, quickly typing out a text.

**Logan: **You + Me = ice skating and hot chocolate?

He didn't have to wait long for a response.

**Camille: **I'll bring the blanket ;)

**Logan: **Taking, Pat/No and Co. Riles is headed to the OC.

**Camille: **Sure, no problem. See you in a few.

"Yeah, she's fine with it," Logan announced, grabbing his car keys to the Big Time Rush mobile and his wallet. "Don't worry about a thing, Landy. I'll bring them back, too. We're just going to have to get Camille from the Palm Woods before we go."

"Thanks, Logie," Riley replied, running her fingers through her hair. "I owe you one."

"I'll remember that," Logan said and Riley laughed a little bit.

"You sure it's not a problem?" Riley pressed.

"_Yes_," Logan said, turning back to face her as the four friends made their way out of the room. "Why are you so worried?"

"You know me, Logie, I worry about everything," Riley replied with a shake of her head, a grim look on her face. It then suddenly switched to a grin. "I just don't want to put out the birthday boy, that's all." She quickly caught the look on his face. "Don't make a big deal about it, Logan. We just think you deserve to have all the attention on you. We'll talk about it, later. I promise. Ok?"

"Ok," Logan replied with a sigh. "I'll see you later."

"See ya," Riley replied, looking distracted as she looked around for her stuff. "Oh! And Gustavo wanted me to tell you that you have morning rehearsal tomorrow."

Logan briefly closed his eyes, letting out a heavy sigh. He pulled up Camille's number on his phone, lifting it to his ear as he trailed behind the four friends. He loved being out in California, but there were times when he just wanted to drop everything and relax and just be Logan, not Logan Mitchell from Big Time Rush.

* * *

"Well, it's about time," Katie said with a heavy sigh as they pulled up into the parking lot of the ice rink. She was the first one out of the car. "I think a snail passed us on the way over here."

"A grandmother in a walker," Patrick added, slamming the car door shut behind him. He then crossed his arms, leaning against the side of the red car. "One _without _wheels."

"Just ignore them," Noah said to Logan and Camille, giving his friend an apologetic smile. "Thanks for driving us."

"We'll get out of your hair," Lizzie added, looping her arms through Patrick and Noah's before dragging them off towards the building. They made their way inside, instantly noticing the difference in temperature as they went to get their skates. "You could've been nicer."

"He _was _driving kinda slow," Noah commented, bent over his shoes, quickly unknotting the shoelaces before pulling his feet out. He sat up, tossing his hair out of his head. "Better than Riles, I guess, who drives too fast."

"I've got a need for speed, baby," Patrick grinned, clapping his hands together, "on the road and on the ice."

"Oh, please," Katie said rolling her eyes as she got to her feet, being the first one done putting on her skates. "That's only if you can keep standing." Patrick's eyebrows twitched, but he didn't say anything as he pulled out his lip rings.

"Hold these for me?" he asked, holding them out to Lizzie. Noah quickly did the same thing with his piercings.

"Sure," Lizzie replied, taking the rings in one hand. With the other, she dug through her purse, found a plastic Ziploc bag, and put the lip rings inside, zipping it shut. "Good thing I had an extra one of these." She then laced up her skates and got to her feet, wobbling slightly.

"I'll be done in a minute," Noah said, continuing to tie his laces. "Pat, Katie, why don't you go without us?"

"It's ok, we'll wait," Katie replied, waving at Logan and Camille who were already out on the ice, holding hands as they skated. She then moved to sit down beside Noah.

"Good reason to," Lizzie said with a grin, "someone's totally got the hots for you, Kates."

"Huh?" Katie asked, looking over at Lizzie. Lizzie nodded her head to the other side of the storage area.

"Look over there," she replied. Patrick and Noah followed her direction, Katie shortly after. "That hot guy is seriously checking you out!" Sure enough, some guy was looking in their direction. His hazel eyes stayed for a moment before he gave a shy smile, waving.

"He could be looking at you," Katie said, turning her gaze from him getting to her feet. She reached out for Patrick's arm. "Come on, I want to get some skating in before they bring out the zamboni." She started to waddle away, and stopped when he didn't move after her.

"He's coming over..." he said, glancing over at her, looking amused. "I think that he wants to talk to you."

"Come on, let's go!" Katie said, giving his arm a hard tug, nearly knocking him off balance. "Look, Noah's done." She dragged Patrick over to the opening of the ice rink and stepped gingerly on the ice, skating forward a little bit to give her friends room to join her.

"You handled that well," Patrick commented as he instantly grabbed onto the wall of the rink, making a squeaky noise in the back of his throat as he nearly lost his balance.

"Shut up," Katie groaned, her cheeks turning pink due to a mixture of embarrassment and the cold temperature. "I'm just not as outgoing or confident about myself as you are, ok?" She blushed harder at the statement. Katie hated talking about her feelings almost as much as the Jacksons did.

"It's a good thing you hang out with me, then," Lizzie said with a smile, putting her arm around Katie's shoulders. "I'll have you out of your shell in no time."

"Let's not all forget the one she's got a crush on," Patrick said with a grin as he straightened himself up. He put his arms out to the sides, making sure he kept his balance, before standing up straight.

"In your dreams, Pat," Katie said with a laugh, shaking her head. "You know I don't buy your egotistic crap."

"Blame James for that one," Noah muttered, sliding his hands into his jeans pockets.

Which was true; James had practically sculpted Patrick into being his "mini me" caring so much about his hair and his good looks. Patrick used that to as a way to joke around a lot, but he did take it some-what seriously.

Lizzie looked over at him, noticing that he was staring off at a spot outside of the rink. "You ok?"

"Mhm," Noah said with a nod, turning back to look at her, his cheeks tinged a pale pink. "That guy's still looking over here." He gave a brief smile. "Figured if I stared back, he'd get creeped out." He gave a shrug, scratching the back of his neck. The action knocked him off balance and he windmilled his arms to keep himself standing up. "Whoop!" His three friends winced as he fell hard onto his side, smacking the ice with his hip.

"You ok, Buddy?" Patrick asked squatting down next to his brother.

Hearing the sound of blades scraping against ice, he looked towards the entrance and saw the same boy from before stepping out onto the ice. He merely looked in their direction before easily gliding past. He then spun around, skating backwards, giving them a warm smile before turning, skating off. Patrick frowned, turning to look over at Katie, who suddenly seemed flustered.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Noah said moving to sit down on the ice before offering his hands to be pulled to his feet. "Maybe I should just watch. You know I hate the cold."

"Nonsense!" Lizzie said with a shake of her head as she helped pull him to his feet. "You'll get the hang of it and by the time you're actually moving, you won't _feel _the cold." She cringed as she watched Noah take another fall onto the ice, this time bringing Patrick down with him.

"Trust me," Noah said with a sigh, as he slowly stood up again, brushing off the seat of his pants which were now damp, "I'll feel the cold alright."

"Well, not everyone's a natural," Katie said, shaking her head. "I've just had years of practice back home on the pond."

"And _we're_ meant to be on warm, _moving_, water," Patrick pointed out, jerking his thumb over at his brother before jabbing himself in the chest. He let out a heavy sigh. "This was a bad idea. Let's just get some hot chocolate and play in the arcade." He slowly made his way back to the entrance. "I'm paying."

"Well aren't you a gentleman?" Lizzie commented with a small laugh as they made their way off the ice.

"For once in his life," Katie added, causing the two girls to start laughing.

"Shut up," Patrick all but snapped, rolling his eyes.

Katie and Lizzie exchanges glances, looking over at Noah for an explanation, but he stayed silent, giving a brief shrug of his shoulders before motioning for the two girls to go ahead of him. He glanced back over his shoulder at the ice, trying to spot Logan and Camille to tell him where they were going. But, instead, he caught the eye of the boy from before. He turned his head and followed his friends off the rink.

"Don't worry about him," Noah muttered as they all wobbled their way over to their storage lockers, "we're all just a little on edge lately." The two girls gave him curious looks. "If it's one thing Robert never failed to do, it was to celebrate our birthdays with us; good or bad. We're just a little worried he's going to come around or something. Bring up memories, y'know?"

He scratched the back of his neck. "We don't want any of the guys to worry. That's why Riles and Rhubes wanted separate parties this year; just in case." He slid his hands into his pockets. "Ronan says he'll make sure their birthday is great. He's been really good at keeping our minds off of stuff like that, lately." He then gave the girls an awkward smile, and before either of them could say anything else, he hurried off to join his brother.

* * *

**A/N: **Again, just in case anyone is confused, the virgo "quotes" at the top kind of give a summary as to what happens in the chapter (like I did with song quotes), not necessarily because Logan, Rhuben, or Riley will be in it. And as I said before, you'll be seeing things from everybody in this fic as they have their own little subplots, but the Camille/Logan/Rhuben one is the main plot.

Hope you guys liked this chapter.

**-Rhubes**


	5. Anything Goes

_Virgo_'s _friendliness can sometimes be mistaken as being_ _flirty_

* * *

**~5~**

Logan smiled against Camille's lips as he ran his fingers through her flowery scented hair, earning a small moan from her. He paused in kissing her for a moment to shift his weight from one arm to another. He was lying on top of her, without crushing her, one hand grasping the end of the bed, propping his body up. The other was resting on her cheek, gently stroking her skin as he leaned down to kiss her again. Camille gently pushed on his shoulder and Logan rolled onto his back, sliding his hands down to grasp Camille's hips. She suddenly stiffened in his arms and pulled away from him.

"What?" Logan asked, opening his eyes to look at her, breathing heavily. He frowned when he saw her quickly glance at her watch before she looked down at him. "What is it?" His lips curled into a teasing grin. "Am I boring you that much?"

"Hardly," Camille replied, before leaning down to kiss him again. Logan pouted when she suddenly pulled away. "WayneWayne's plane lands soon. I have to get going."

"Nooo," Logan all but whined, pulling her to his chest as she went to get up from her bed. "Stay here." Camille laughed as her cell phone vibrated against the bed.

**Rhubes: **Are you ready to come down yet? We're going to be late!

"Logan, I have to get going," Camille said as she pulled away from him, using her hand to brush her hair over her shoulders. She let out a small shriek as Logan pulled her into his lap as he sat up, closing his eyes as he pressed a kiss to her neck.

**Camille: **I'll be down in a few minutes, promise. :)

**Rhubes: **K. Tell Logan I said 'hi.' ;)

Camille couldn't help but blush as she read the message. She knew that both she and Logan were the butt of their friends' jokes most of the time about their relationship; whether it's sexual or there was actually some base to it. Camille simply loved making out with her boyfriend and there was nothing wrong it with that. Her father would disagree with it, though, if he caught the two of them alone in the apartment together.

"Everyone's waiting on me, Logan," she said, her eyes fluttering shut as Logan continued to kiss her neck. "Seriously." She cleared her throat, getting to her feet, moving to the mirror to quickly pull a brush through her tangled hair. She watched Logan through the mirror as he bounced to the end of the bed to grab his socks and shoes after straightening his shirt. "Want to do something later, though?"

He peered at her through the mirror. "It's Friday," Logan pointed out and Camille felt her shoulders slump slightly. "Sorry. You know Riles, Rhubes, and I—"

"Always hang out on Friday," Camille finished for him, setting down her brush a little harder than she meant to. She knocked over a bottle of lotion with her wrist, quickly grabbing it before it fell off the table, straightening it. Or at least, that's what she wanted him to think happened, as she turned around to face him. "We need to set aside a time of our own."

"Camille, we see each other all the time," Logan pointed out.

"Not _all_ the time," Camille replied, leaning back on her hands, crossing one leg over the other. "You see them more than you see me." Logan didn't have to think twice about what she meant when she said 'them'.

"Not since the tour and not since they stopped working with us," Logan replied, bending over to slide on his socks before sticking his feet into his shoes. He then lifted his knee to his chin, tying his shoe, looking up at her. "What's wrong, 'Mille?"

"I didn't think you'd be so busy once you got back from tour," Camille replied with a shrug, "that's all."

That was an understatement. She had seen how busy they were after their first six-week tour, with all the school work they missed, and how they had to prepare for their second album and their shows for that year. Because of the stress of both of their schedules, they barely saw each other, but they did start dating. That quickly fell apart though when James offered to help her run lines for an audition and they accidentally kissed each other. And it was an accident, but at the same time, there was something inside Camille that made her want to kiss him.

Sure, he was handsome, no one could deny that, but it was also due in part to the fact that he didn't have a problem dropping whatever it was he was doing to help her out. For the short moment, he gave her the attention that Logan _wasn't_ giving her, and simply put, not that she'd admit it, her hormones got in the way. That nearly broke the two of them up for good; but things heated up pretty quickly between the two of them and they got back together again, and she hadn't been happier. But, sometimes she wondered if Logan was still mad about it. And he had every right to be. Just like she had every right to be jealous of how close he and Rhuben were. Not that she'd admit that either. They were just friends after all.

"I promise once we get back into the swing of things, there'll be more time of the two of us, alone, with no interruptions," Logan replied with an impish grin as he got to his feet, walking over to her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and dipped his head, giving her a long kiss. "Ok?"

"Mmmmm," Camille pretended to think about it and Logan kissed her again. "Ok. But, I've really got to get going." She quickly found a pair of shoes, sliding her feet into them and adjusted her clothes before making her way into the kitchen off her apartment. "I'm going to leave a note for my dad." She quickly jotted a note of where she was going before grabbing her keys and her purse. She took Logan's hand and the two of them made their way down to the Palm Woods lobby.

"'Bout time," Riley commented, sounding annoyed, although she was still smiling as she was laughing at whatever it was that Dak had just said to her. "Logie, thanks again for driving the kids the other day."

"No problem," Logan replied, waving his free hand in the air. "When does WayneWayne's plane land?" He wasn't the biggest fan of WayneWayne Dooley, as he tried to kick his friend out of Big Time Rush, but they grew to accept him as part of their large group of friends.

"In about an hour, but knowing LA traffic, it's going to take us that long to get there," Dak added, before tilting his head over to Riley as the girl in red and Logan did the secret handshake that she, Rhuben and Logan shared; sliding their palms over each others, catching on each other's fingers for a moment before doing an exploding fist bump. "And I didn't want to be mean and stick Riley in a car with her 'boyfriends' family so she's riding with us."

"Now she just has to deal with it at the airport," Rhuben added.

The two friends were referring to the fact that Riley had helped WayneWayne out at his house once saying that she was his girlfriend when in fact they weren't together. This backfired in their faces as WayneWayne's sisters always referred to Riley as "Girlfriend" and wouldn't stop pestering the two of them about their supposed relationship whenever they got a chance to, which included hijacking skype conversations, and pretty much cornering them as soon as she set foot into their house.

Rhuben laughed harder at the annoyed look on Riley's face. "It's your own fault, Riles," she said with a shake of her head. "Honestly, I'd take that over being paired with the Teen Icon over here, in every single magazine, gossip site, and fansite." Riley's eyebrows rose and she tilted her head back and forth as she thought about it.

"That sucks," Logan commented, although he looked amused. He caught Rhuben's eye and a smile to his face.

"Sucks like a vacuum," she said.

"Within a vacuum," Logan added, laughing a little bit. "Or a—"

"Hot pair of lips on a cold cherry popsicle," the two of them said together before they started to laugh. Riley rolled her eyes, shaking her head.

"Seriously?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest. "You're _still_ going on about that? It's not funny anymore."

"I don't get it," Camille said, looking at the equally confused look on his face. He shrugged, showing that he didn't understand what was so funny either, which was sort of surprising to Camille.

"Don't worry about it, it's a joke from when we were kids," Rhuben replied as her laughter faded. "An inside joke."

"You had to be there," Logan added. He then clapped his hands together. "Well, I've got to get going or Gustavo's going to tell at me for being late to the studio."

"Not like he doesn't ever yell, mate," Rhuben pointed out.

"True, but he'd actually have a good reason for it this time," Logan replied, stepping forward to give Camille a kiss on the cheek before wiggling his thumbs towards Riley and Rhuben. "Text me when you get back and we can go grab ice cream or whatever and hang out."

"Actually, the new Cheesecake Factory opened up at The Grove," Riley said to her friend, "we were thinking of hitting it up." She looked around at everybody. "Us, Dak, WayneWayne, and Camille so we can all hang out on his first day back."

"That's a great idea, Riles," Camille said, giving her friend a smile.

"Yeah," Rhuben replied with a nod, trying to keep a straight face, "it'll be the _best _triple date ever. We're just going to have to make sure the Dooley family sits _all the way_ on the other side of the restaurant."

"Ha ha," Riley said with a roll of her eyes.

"You had me at date," Dak said with a grin, putting his arm around Rhuben's shoulders. She rolled her eyes, but didn't make a move to push his arm off of her.

"I bet she did," Logan commented, his lips twitching into a brief teasing smile. He gave Camille another kiss on the cheek as the group made their way to the parking lot. Logan gave a two fingered salute as he started across the parking lot to the Big Time Rush mobile. "I'll see you guys soon, then."

"See ya, Logie," Riley called as she climbed into the car. Rhuben got the passenger seat while she and Camille moved to sit in the row behind them. Dak slammed his fist on the horn twice to say goodbye to his friend. "Alright, let's hit the road. We want to be on the highway before rush hour."

"I'm sure you can wait an eternity before seeing your boyfriend's parents," Dak said, sharing a grin with Rhuben as he slid his seat belt into the buckle with a loud _click_. "But, what's the rush."

"Considering Patrick ate the candy I was going to give him once he got off the plane when—"

"With the simple excuse of the fact that he was bored," Rhuben interrupted her twin.

"—I figured I would at least get him a Caramel Frappuccino With a Banana Blended in from Starbucks so he has something hot to drink as soon as he gets off the plane," Riley finished as she pulled her seat belt over her chest. Dak turned on the car, looking behind him before backing the car out of the space, and pulling out of the Palm Woods parking lot.

"He'll have something hot to drink alright," Dak muttered, earning a smack to the arm from both Jackson girls and a loud laugh from Camille as he shouted in pain. "Kidding; geeze."

"You better have been joking, mate," Riley said in a warning tone, leaning back in her seat, letting out a huff of air. "I get enough comments that I can handle from James, I don't need it from you, too." Her eyes then lit up. "Oh, Camille! I got that lip gloss you wanted." She then reached under her seat and pulled out a purse, looking through it.

"That's cute!" Camille cried, reaching out her hand for it. "Since when do you carry a purse, though?" Riley held up the Native American purse, smiling at the red beaded tassles hanging off the ends. "Since Ronan got it for me for an early birthday gift and I didn't want to make him feel bad by not using it. Rhubes got one too. In purple of course."

"Of course," Camille agreed. She smile-thanked Riley as she was handed a tube of lip gloss. "Sugar Cookie," she read aloud before unscrewing the top. "Mmm, smells good."

"_Really, _good," Dak agreed, holding out his hand for it. Camille placed the tube in his hand and he briefly peered at it, before turning his attention back to the road. "Remind me to make sure Lizzie doesn't have any of this stuff." He then elbowed Rhuben in the side, holding the tube out for Camille to take back. "Although, if _you_—"

"Don't get any ideas," Rhuben warned, shaking her head, "I don't want you attacking my face. Besides, she fancies Noah so you have nothing to worry about."

"Since _when_?" Dak asked, sounding surprised.

"Even I've noticed that," Camille said with a shake of her head. "Since always; she flirts with both of them, but she likes Noah more."

"If I had to guess, it's because he actually knows when to shut up," Riley added, causing everyone in the car to start laughing. "So, Camille, do you have everything set up for Logan's party?"

"Yeah, I'm almost done," Camille replied with a smile. "It's going to be a blast; you'll see." She leaned forward in her seat. "So, what are you guys going to get him?"

"I'm giving him a painting," Dak replied, turning onto the highway. "I've been working on it for a while now."

"We've been meaning to talk to you about that," Riley said as Rhuben turned around in her seat to face her twin.

Camille sighed when she instantly picked up on them having a silent conversation. It was that hard to figure out; it got suddenly quiet as the two of them would "talk" with their eyes. No one liked being on the subject of their silent conversation as it was hard for anyone to know what the two girls were saying about them.

"I hate it when you guys do that," Camille said loudly, getting their attention. She gave a brief smile when the two girls gave her sheepish grins. "What's up?"

"We were just wondering how you felt about tattoos," Rhuben replied adjusting her seatbelt so she could talk to her friend directly. She motioned towards herself and then to Riley. "We were thinking of pre-paying for Logan to get a tattoo with us."

Camille blinked in surprise. It didn't seem like something Logan would do, but he had been branching out from his "nerdy" persona over the time he had been in California. Camille knew that their friendship was very important to each other, but there was something about getting a tattoo that rubbed her the wrong way. She _did_ love the look of tattoos on people, depending on what it was and the story behind it, but she couldn't picture one on Logan.

She knew that Kendall had a tattoo (whether or not Mrs. Knight actually knew about it) and thought his was pretty cool; and Riley had gone with him to get it and he said it didn't hurt that much, and he had gotten it for a special reason. She knew that there was a reason behind this as well.

"It's fine with me, I guess," Camille replied with a shrug. "I can't really stop him from getting one. It's his body." Dak made a choking sound as if he was trying not to laugh and make a comment at the same time. She smiled. "I can't wait to see it."

"Are you sure?" Riley asked. "If you don't want us too, that's fine."

"No, no, don't worry," Camille replied, waving her hand in the air. "It's fine; I think it's cool." The twin girls exchanges glances before settling back in their seat. _I really hate it when they do that_.

* * *

"All Aboard the WayneWayne Train?" Camille asked with a giggle, looking at the sign that Rhuben held in her hands.

"What?" Rhuben asked, glancing at it, "He'll think its funny." Her upper lip curled slightly. "Besides, I kinda forgot when he was coming in and this sign was the quickest thing I could of last night." She then shared a grin with Riley as the girl in red headed over to the two of them, carrying a Starbuck's cup. Dak was chewing on a cinnamon bun. "It was worth the paint war last night, too."

"How'd Ronan take that by the way?" Dak asked as they made their way through the crowded airport.

"Let's just say, we're glad he doesn't believe in grounding us," Riley replied and Camille let out a low whistle. "Yeah." They followed Dak over to where the airplane was allowing passengers off. Dak was the first to greet WayneWayne's parents.

"You remember my friends," he said, motioning to the three girls. "Riley, Rhuben, and Camille."

"Hi, Mrs. Dooley," Riley said with a smile, moving the Starbuck's cup into her other hand, offering her now free hand to the older woman for a shake.

"Girlfriend!" Natalie Dooley, WayneWayne's younger sister, all but screamed once she caught sight of Riley, before rushing over to her to give her a tight hug. Riley practically shoved the Starbuck's cup in her hands into Dak's chest as she stumbled back from the force of the hug. "How are you?"

"Good," Riley managed to choke out. "I see Jacey's still pregnant."

"_Annoyingly _pregnant," Natalie replied with a roll of her eyes, turning to the eldest Dooley kid, who was standing beside her fiancé, Stephen, rubbing her protruding belly. "They still haven't set a date for the wedding yet. But, Jacey says she'll definitely ask you to be a part of the wedding."

"Lucky me," Riley replied with as much enthusiasm as she could muster. Camille put a hand over her mouth, giggling, at the weirded out look on her friend's face.

"There he is," Nikki shouted, jumping up and down, pointing towards a dark haired guy with aviator sunglasses and a black t-shirt. He had an overstuffed carry-on bag over one shoulder.

"_Holy hottie_," Rhuben cried, her eyes widening slightly as she spotted her friend getting off the plane. She got weird looks from her friends. "Just because I'm not 'dating' him doesn't mean I'm not allowed to comment. Clearly, Canada did wonders for him."

"Except for the aviators," Riley commented, her upper lip curing and Camille and Rhuben nodded in agreement. "It makes his head look small."

"I've been trying to get him to stop wearing them for _years_," Jacey commented, waddling over to them as Stephen moved to take WayneWayne's bag. Natalie practically knocked WayneWayne over with her combination of a tackle and a hug. "If anyone can, it's you, Girlfriend." She then pushed Riley's shoulder. "Go give him a hug and a kiss for crying out loud."

"Yeah, Riles, _gosh_," Dak added with an amused grin. Riley glared at him over her shoulder before walking over to WayneWayne, wrapping her arms around his neck in a hug.

Camille often wondered whether or not Riley actually had feelings for WayneWayne. She could tell that he liked her; they have been best friends since they were on _Magic Middle School _together. _It's only a matter of time that a ruse becomes reality_, she thought, feeling a smile tug at her lips as she watched Riley and WaynWayne awkwardly broke the hug before hesitantly, quickly kissing each other. WayneWayne then reached down and took her hand in his, intertwining their fingers.

"Geeze, you could kiss your girlfriend better than that," Natalie said with a roll of her eyes. She gently elbowed Jacey in the side before rubbing her hands together. "Do it again and _really_ mean it."

"That's not weird at all," WayneWayne said in a monotone, pushing his sunglasses up into his hair. He looked over at Riley. "Sorry."

"S'ok," she replied, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.

"They should really just date already," Rhuben commented as Mr. Dooley made the announcement that he, Mrs. Dooley, and Natalie were going to go and get WayneWayne's bags from baggage claim. Stephen was leading Jacey towards a bathroom. "It'd make things a whole lot easier."

"That depends on how you look at it," Camille pointed out. "I could see this blowing up in their faces soon. Then again, Wally's always been a great actor." She smiled, stepping towards him. WayneWayne let go of Riley's hand to give Camille a hug. "It's great to see you."

"You, too," WayneWayne said, giving Camille a warm smile. "Riles says you and Logan are coming out to dinner with us. That's great."

"Just be nice and you'll be fine," Camille said, patting WayneWayne's chest. "Things'll be good between you guys now. You're both moving on to bigger and better things Mr. Season 3 of Ziggle-Zaggles."

"As long as no one asks me to sing the Banana Song," WayneWayne said with a roll of his eyes. "You have no idea how many kids asked me to sing that while I was there." He then noticed the sign in Rhuben's hands and started laughing. "That's cute."

"See! I _told_ you he'd think it was funny," Rhuben said, wiggling the sign in her hands.

"And I got this for you," Riley said, taking the Starbucks from Dak, handing it to WayneWayne. "Your favorite. I would've gotten you something else, but—"

"This is perfect, don't worry," WayneWayne replied, giving her a warm smile. "Thanks, Riles." Riley nodded in reply before resting her chin on his shoulder. "Man, I'm starving. So, what's been going on here? You guys started your break, right?"

"Yeah, and we've basically just gone to the beach and visited some of Ronan's family," Rhuben replied, balancing the sign against her legs, crossing her arms over her chest. She shrugged. "You know, boring stuff."

"Apart from our make-out sessions she means," Dak replied, earning a hard elbow to the side from the girl in purple. He grinned, looping an arm around her waist. "I've got to make our boring time here sound somewhat interesting."

"I could see through that like a pair of glasses, dude," WayneWayne said with a short laugh, shaking his head. "But, I appreciate the thought." He then blinked in surprise when Rhuben didn't make a comment or move from his hold. "Camille, what about you?"

"Jo's looking to see if I can get a part on _New Town High_, but other than that," she gave a shrug. "I'm still looking." Riley loudly cleared her throat. "Oh! And the Jacksons hired me to help them with yoga and stick to their work out regiment and stuff like that."

"No one's as adamant about finding fun ways to work out than Camille," Riley said, smiling at her friend. "And I'd kill for her body."

"Oh, _please_, Miss Performer," Camille shot back with a shake of her head. "You have a great body."

"I hate my thighs," Riley commented, looking down at her jean covered legs. "They're seriously huge."

"Wally obviously doesn't seem to think so," Natalie said with a grin, causing both teenagers to blush. WayneWayne quickly stepped away from Camille, taking Riley's hand in his. "Let's go. I'm starving."

"Jacey isn't back from the bathroom yet," Dak pointed out.

"Could take a while," WayneWayne cracked. He seemed proud of himself. "I still got it."

"We'd like to hear all about your trip, Wally," Natalie said, looping her arm through her brother's. "Come in our car, Girlfriend too." She leaned forward, smiling at Riley, wiggling her eyebrows. "Just make sure you don't put your hands all over each other in the back seat.

"Shut up, Nat," WayneWayne groaned, blushing harder.

"Let him go with his friends," Mr. Dooley said, waving his hand in the air. "Nat, you'll see your brother at home. Go and have fun."

"Thanks, dad," WayneWayne replied as the four friends made their way out of the airport, towards Dak's car. WayneWayne sighed heavily. "That went better than I thought."

"It would go even smoother if you just came clean," Camille pointed out to the two of them. She started walking backwards; smiling at her best friend.

"It's not that easy, Camille," WayneWayne replied, using his free hand to run his fingers through his hair. He glanced back over his shoulder, shaking his head. "You know my family; it never is."

"You don't say," Camille replied, her lips curling into a smirk as she nodded down at their hands. WayneWayne and Riley gave her a confused look before they both looked down at their intertwined fingers and became aware that they were still holding hands. They let go of each other almost instantly. "If its one thing I've learned growing up, not all relationships are easy."

* * *

**A/N: **The hot lips/cherry popsicle line came from a movie about an eating disorder. I don't remember what it's called, but I remember seeing it in middle school.

For those asking, this fic will be around 15 chapters, maybe shorter depending on how long the chapters are. Don't worry, I _will_ be getting to Logan's birthday. Thanks for reading and I hope you guys liked this one.

**Cheers,**

**-Rhubes**


	6. This Wall

_Virgos__ are aware to how others feel, and can see things underneath the surface of a situation._

* * *

**~6~**

"Knock, knock," Noah said as he lightly rapped his knuckles on his sister's bedroom door. He leaned against the door frame and watched as his sister, glanced at him as she made her way over to her closet to grab a pair of shoes before sitting down on the corner of her bed. "Can I talk to you for a sec, Rhubes?"

"Sure," Rhuben replied, looking up at him as she quickly tied her shoe lace. "But, you don't have to ask, I always have time to talk."

Noah gave a brief smile. "Thanks," he replied. "I know you have to get to rehearsals with Steph and Riles, soon, so—"

"Like I said, I always have time to talk to you," Rhuben repeated, peering up at him. "What's wrong?"

"Uh," Noah twisted the piercing under his lip. "I want to talk to Ronan about this too, come on." He straightened, using his shoulder to brush his hair out of his face. Rhuben's eyebrows narrowed slightly but she quickly tied her shoes, grabbed her keys off her dresser and then grabbed her bag before following him down the hall to their dad's slightly ajar, door. "Ronan, can we talk to you for a second?"

"Sure, come in," came their dad's reply and Noah pushed the door open. Ronan grabbed the remote to his TV and turned it off, sitting up straight. "What's up?"

"Those glasses," Rhuben replied as Noah jumped onto the bed, sitting Indian style on it. Rhuben moved to sit in the chair in the corner of the room. "Can you spell 'nerd'?"

Ronan sighed, taking his black rimmed glasses off his face. "I use them to read from time to time," he said as he folded in one ear piece before hanging them off the collar of his shirt. "I was looking through the contracts you signed with Gustavo when you first started working with Big Time Rush; you guys have to do at least one-more co-write song with them."

"I thought we already did three of 'em," Noah said, frowning.

"No, we let them have _This is Our Someday_, remember?" Rhuben said with a shake of her head. "We just performed it with them during our tour." Noah blinked, but didn't say anything else. "So, what's up?"

"Um," Noah rocked back and forth as he gripped his feet, "just something I've been thinking about for a few days. Since we went ice skating, actually."

"Did something happen?" Ronan asked, instantly looking worried.

"We weren't hurt or anything," Noah said with a shake of his head, "but Pat and I got a bad vibe from one of the guys there. He kept staring at Katie. It was weird." He shrugged. "It just felt…off."

"Patrick stares at her all the time," Rhuben pointed out and Noah laughed a little bit. "It was weirder than that?"

"Yeah," Noah replied, "kinda like he was searching her out or something." He scratched the back of his head. "I don't know; maybe I'm just thinking too much about it."

"Hmmm," Ronan said rubbing his chin. "How old was this guy?"

"About my age, maybe a little younger," Noah replied, chewing on his bottom lip. He started to pull at some of the loose skin. "He didn't look mean or anything. Ok, I guess." He was silent for a moment as he thought it over. "He's good looking. But, I didn't like how he was looking at her. Pat and I got the girls out of there pretty quick, but we didn't tell them what was wrong." He paused for a moment giving a small grin. "That, and as you know, we aren't the best skaters."

"Which I find kind of strange considering all the other stuff you can do," Ronan pointed out, giving his kids pointed looks, "like _rollerblading_."

"That's not on ice," Rhuben pointed out as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Which, it was. A serious look then crossed her face. "How do you know the guy wasn't looking at you or Pat?" Ronan and Noah gave her an odd look. "I'm just saying; he could be gay. You two are pretty good looking people so I understand why people would stare, I'm just saying not to rule out anything."

"She's got a point," Ronan said and Noah made a noise with the back of his throat. "What?"

"It's just…" Noah let out a heavy sigh. "I guess I'm just paranoid with it being their birthday soon and everything. Robert might still send a card." He shook his head. "I don't know, I feel like everybody keeps staring or they have some ulterior motive to it like, like they're a spy for him or something." He gave a weak smile. "Kinda funny, right?"

"Come here," Ronan said, to his daughter, patting at the empty spot by his feet on the bed. Rhuben got to her feet and jokingly shoved Noah, silently telling him to move. Noah whipped his hand back, slapping her on the thigh.

"Ow, don't hit me," Rhuben cried, shoving him again.

"Stop shoving meeee!" Noah cried, repeatedly reaching behind him to hit her as she kept shoving him.

"Knock it off and just sit down," Ronan said with a bark of laughter, motioning for Rhuben to walk around the bed, which she did after a punch to Noah's arm. "Now, it's normal for you guys to be conscious and worried about what people think of you after you revealed this news to your fans and to the public. But, I think you're doing a great job."

"This isn't going to be something easy for you to get over, but since you told Kendall and Logan and all of your friends, that was one step towards your recovery. I'm sure you'll have some relapses or something nowadays, but we still have your psychiatrist on call if you ever want to talk to them if you don't feel comfortable talking to me about something."

"But, we tell you everything," Noah pointed out.

"And don't think I don't appreciate it," Ronan replied reaching out a hand to grab Noah's foot, shaking it. Noah laughed a little bit, pulling his foot back. "But, to be honest, there are some things that I don't think I could handle hearing from you guys. And you can also go to Kacy, too, she cares about you guys as well as you know. I'm not trying to tell you how to feel, but that it's understandable that you _do_ feel that way. I don't think that feeling is going to go away for a while. But, you have a whole bunch of people around you that are willing to help you if and when you need it. So, _no_, it's not a silly thought."

"Thanks, dad," Noah said quietly.

"You're welcome," Ronan replied. His smile then turned to a look of annoyance when there was a repeated banging sound down the hall. Sydney's voice wafted over to them.

"_Patrick, get out! You've been in there for fifteen minutes already_!" Sydney shouted before the banging started up again. "_You hate taking showers_."

"I guess they're back from the beach then," Ronan said with a sigh. "There goes my peace and quiet." He then gave his two kids a grin. "I'm surprised you guys aren't permanently pruned; all you do is surf."

"We're bored," Rhuben replied with a shrug, "there's not much to do around here when you're not working. Besides, we're catching up on all the times we've missed because of touring and stuff." She then rolled off his bed. "We'll go tell Syd to turn it down a few decibels." Rhuben turned to Noah, putting an arm around his shoulders (Noah laughed a little bit as Rhuben had to walk on the balls of her feet to accommodate his height) and said, "I think you did a good thing getting Lizz and Katie out of there."

"I just hate feeling like I can't do anything normal without having anyone stare at me," Noah muttered, shaking his head. "You know I like being the drummer for a reason; I'm at the back, there's barely any attention on me."

"Yeah, lucky you," Rhuben muttered, shaking her head. "I still can't believe Ronan wants me to learn how to play the guitar. I _hate_ being front and center."

"Rhu-Rhu, get him out," Sydney all but whined, motioning towards the bathroom door where steam seeped out from underneath as the sound of the shower running and Patrick's humming filled the air. "Riles got out and I called second because he takes the longest." He stomped his foot. "It's not fair."

Rhuben rolled her eyes before removing her arm from Noah's shoulders, making her way to the bathroom. She then pounded her fist on the door. "Patrick Bailey; out. Now!"

"Ok, ok, geeze," Patrick shouted back and the water immediately shut off. The water stopped and they could hear the sound of the shower curtain being pulled back. Moments later, the door opened and Patrick stepped out into the hall, tightening the knot on his hip to keep his towel up. "Don't have to get all aggro, sis."

Sydney stuck his tongue out at Patrick, spitting before giving Rhuben his dimpled smile. "Thank you," he all but cooed before scurrying into the bathroom, closing the door shut behind him.

"Keep it down for Ronan, yeah?" Rhuben said, pointing a warning finger in Patrick's face. Patrick arched an eyebrow, silently batting her hand away. "I mean it."

"Do you know how long it takes to get all the salt water out of my hair?" Patrick asked, brushing aside the long dark hair that sat in his face nearly covering all of his eyes. "Showering takes time. It's not easy to look this handsome, you know."

"You've been spending way too much time with James," Noah commented, peering at his twin out of the corner of his eyes. "Seriously." Patrick merely shrugged, scratching his bare chest.

"Riles and I are starting to teach Steph some of the dances today," Rhuben said to Patrick, "so we'll need you guys in soon for group work and so she can meet the rest of the backup dancers." She scratched the back of her neck. "Do either of you have a preference on partnering with her?"

"Noah?" Patrick asked, clapping his twin on the back. Noah briefly shook his head 'no' his cheeks turning pink. "Figured you'd jump at the chance." Noah stomped his foot down on top of his brother's. Patrick barely flinched, but elbowed his brother back.

"Height wise, because of his hair, I was thinking of putting her with Patrick, but I just wanted to know what you guys thought before we made our final decision," Rhuben replied and Noah nodded as Patrick made his way into his room, closing the door behind him. She peered closely at Noah as he watched his brother go. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, why?" Noah asked, running his fingers through his hair. He frowned as he pulled a lock of his hair down in front of his face. "Think I need another hair cut?"

"A trim, and I'm just curious," Rhuben replied, crossing her arms over her chest. "Anything else you want to talk about?" Noah scrunched up half of his face as he thought about it, before shaking his head. "If you're sure. Riles and I are going to get Steph from the Palm Woods then head over to Rocque Records."

"Tell her I said 'hi'," Noah replied, following her down the stairs.

"I always do."

..

.

"Hey," Riley said as she barged into apartment 2J after her usual double knock on the door. She got a different mix of responses; Carlos, with his mouth filled with chips managed to choke out a 'Hey', James used one hand to wave, his eyes glued to the TV as he, Kendall, Carlos, and Katie played a video game, Kendall let out a loud curse, and Katie let out a loud cheer as Kendall's character on the screen blew up. Riley then fixed her eyes on Logan and Camille who were sitting in the corner of the L-shaped couch. "Steph not ready, yet?"

"She said she'd be down in a little bit," Camille replied, giving her friends a smile in greeting. "She's excited about working with you guys today. And Jo says she'll call you later; she had a last minute rehearsal for _New Town High_ today."

"Ah, no worries, we'll just chill here until she gets down here," Rhuben said with a wave of her hand.

"I thought you guys weren't going to be doing anything music wise for a while," Logan said, a confused look on his face as Riley squeezed into a spot in between Kendall and James to watch them play the game. "At least, that's what you told me before you went back to Australia."

"We are, but Steph needs to catch up," Rhuben replied, leaning on the back of Carlos's chair, giving his helmet an affectionate swat as he blew up James's character. "We're still doing some music and stuff; I seriously think we'd go crazy if we quit cold turkey, but we're doing some stuff from time to time, not making a huge deal about it or anything." She then sighed, making a popping sound with her lips. "Got any Ring Pops?"

She didn't wait for Logan to answer before straightening and walking into the room that he and Kendall shared. She made a beeline towards his dresser, pulling out the middle drawer, pushing some clothes aside, letting out a loud "Ah ha" when she found the plastic container.

"Some privacy, please?" Logan asked as he hurried in behind her to put his stuff back. "How'd you even know that was there?"

"That's where you kept them in Texas," Rhuben replied with a shrug, grabbing two packets, instantly ripping one open to put on her finger. "It's not like it was your underwear drawer; and it's not like I haven't seem 'em before, either." Logan blushed, rolling his eyes as he pushed the drawer closed.

"You ok?" Logan then asked, leaning against the dresser. "I mean, how are you doing with everything?"

"Dot, dot, dot?" Rhuben asked, glancing at her watch. "Steph should be here soon and we've really got to go; but I promise I'll tell you."

She held up her pinky finger and Logan hooked his onto hers and they shook their hands up and down three times. Much like "dot, dot, dot" was a way for them to tell each other that they'd finished a conversation later, they always stuck true with a pinky promise, no matter how childish it seemed. Their trust in each other was important, and that little handshake showed it.

"Alright, I'll wait," Logan replied, before he stuck out his bottom lip. "I'll just wait all alone until you get back. Little old Logan waiting for his best friend to return home."

"You're not funny and I hate it when you do that," Rhuben replied with a small laugh, poking him in the chest before leaving his room, throwing the extra Ring Pop to Riley, who easily caught it in her hand. She was now playing in the game, having taken over for Carlos. "Nice looking at ya, boys, but we gotta roll."

"Yeah, rehearsal starts soon," Riley said glancing at her watch as she paused the game. James made a noise of protest in the back of her throat. "Relax, Handsome, I'll be back to whip your butt in no time."

"Is that a threat or a promise?" James asked with a grin. Riley rolled her eyes and he nudged her with his shoulder. "Kidding. See you later."

"Hey, we're still on for tomorrow, right?" Kendall asked, looking over at the two girls. "Choreography and wardrobe?"

"Far as I know, we'll text you if anything changes, yeah?" Riley said, as she and Kendall did their "secret" handshake. "Let's go, sis."

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, the two girls arrived at the dance studio. They both did a quick change in the bathroom before making their way into one of the locked dance studios in Rocque Records. They then started to stretch as they waited for Stephanie to join them, but she was running late.

"Wonder what's taking her?" Rhuben mused aloud, putting her weight on her left foot as she rolled her ankle around in circles. "She said she'd meet us here soon."

"Let's give her a few more minutes, yeah?" Riley suggested as she put her feet together, bending forward at the waist to touch her toes. Once they were done stretching they got restless and started to pace.

Riley and Rhuben's feet connected with the hardwood floor of Rocque Record's dance studio as they paced from one side of the room to the other, at the same pace. As Riley went in one direction, Rhuben went in the other. Occasionally, they would glance at the door, silently willing it to open. No sooner than it did, the door crashed into the wall behind it, causing the two girls to jump as Stephanie hurried into the room.

"Hey," Riley greeted her friend with a smile as Stephanie threw her bag into the corner.

"You're late," Rhuben pointed out and Riley rolled her eyes.

"By ten minutes," Riley said, giving her friend an easy going smile, showing that she wasn't upset about it. She then tilted her head to the side. "You look different, Sheila."

Stephanie sighed heavily, removing the hood from her sweatshirt and the twin girls' eyes widened at how poofy her hair was. "It's the heat!" Stephanie cried, throwing her arms up into the air. "I had my hair _perfect _and straight this morning and now…now it looks like I stuck my finger in a light socket."

"And to think I was going to be nice about this whole thing," Rhuben said, deadpan, exchanging glances with her sister. "It's not that, really. It, uh—"

"Looks like I stuck my finger in a light socket!" Stephanie fumed, trying to make her hair lie flat.

"Well, yeah," Rhuben finished lamely with a sheepish grin.

"But, once you start dancing you won't notice. We're just going to go through some old stuff and then hit some new choreography," Riley said, patting her friend on the shoulder. "Once you get your body going, you won't notice."

Which was true; the three girls were so into dancing, that it seemed like everything and anything slipped their minds whenever they were moving along with the music. When the Jacksons held auditions for backup dancers, as their dancers back in Australia couldn't get their Visa's in time to do some important shows in LA, they didn't expect for Stephanie to try out. It was hard for them to judge her without being biased, so they managed to connect to Australia through Skype with their old backup dancers and had them judge her every time she got a call back. And she blew them away with her dancing. However, much to Riley's slight annoyance, there was now someone else who was as obsessed with dancing as Rhuben was, and that much more of a perfectionist.

"We're going to start with our song _Eat You Up_, but we won't use music for a little while," Rhuben said as she hurried to her bag to look for something to give to Stephanie to keep her hair down. "We'll just be in a line for now to see how in sync we are, but then we'll move to the normal formation.

"Should I stand here or-?"

"Yeah, you're taller than us, you'll stay in the middle," Riley replied, gently elbowing her friend in the side. "You've seen us do our normal 'V' shape, so you'll be at the back over there, diagonally up from Rhubes, with Noah."

"He says 'hi' by the way," Rhuben said as she walked over to Stephanie, holding out a hair tie. "Here. I don't know how much it'll help."

"Thanks," Stephanie grumbled as she took the elastic band, although she had a smile on her face.

She knew that Noah had a crush on her as he had told her shortly after she and Carlos started dating. She felt a little bad for him because he was always too shy to tell her how he felt, and he told her flat out that he knew that he didn't have a chance with her. But, she always had a soft spot for him as despite the abuse he went through, he always had a smile and a greeting for her, despite the fact that they were barely friends at the time. In turn, she made sure to give him attention from time to time as she didn't have to worry about him taking things the wrong way.

"Ok, so, as cheesy as it sounds, we start with our back to the audience," Rhuben instructed, turning around so her back faced the mirrors. "And then you're going to jump in place ones, spreading out your arms as wide as you can. When you land your jump, you'll cross your right leg behind your left." Stephanie moved her leg as she was told. "And then you use your legs to help you spin to your right; as you spin, you'll be pulling your arms close to your body. You'll do one whole spin so you face the back again, and then one half spin, the same way, so you'll face the front…"

The two girls were a little surprised to find how quickly Stephanie picked up the dance moves. They quickly moved onto three, and four dances out of the Jacksons repertoire. "And five, six, seven, and eight," Rhuben called out as they finished a dance, slamming to a stop, breathing heavily. "That was good! You guys did great!"

"Slam dunk, Steph," Riley said with a grin, slapping Stephaine's plams in a double high five before the two girls bumped hips. "We're done for the day. Besides, I'm wiped from surfing all morning."

"You? Tired?" Stephanie asked with a small laugh, breathing heavily as she made her way to her dance bag to grab a bottle of water. "I doubt it. All of you guys put together have more energy than a kid on Red Bull." Riley laughed lazily.

"We'll start group work with everybody else soon," Rhuben said as she rapidly pulled her shirt away from her chest, fanning herself. "If you don't mind, I'd like for you to sit out at first and watch since it's a new song we're doing." She let go of her shirt and gathered her hair in her hands, holding it in a ponytail. "I have an eye for the technical detail but it's hard for me to watch with an objective eye."

"Sure, no problem," Stephanie replied, breathing heavily after she swallowed a mouthful of water. She then stood, looking over at Rhuben for a moment. "Can I talk to you about something?"

"Seems like everyone wants to talk today," Rhuben said with a short laugh as she grabbed a towel, wiping her face. Riley gave her a confused look. "I'll explain later. Sure, Steph, shoot."

"Well…I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but," Stephanie said, looking uncomfortable, glancing over at Riley for a brief moment before looking back at Rhuben. "Um, are you _sure_ you don't have feelings for Logan anymore?"

"Um…yeah," Rhuben replied, giving her a confused look, tilting her head to the side. "We're _just friends _that's all." She wrapped her towel around her neck. "What brought this up all of a sudden?"

"It's…not really all of a sudden," Stephanie replied, glancing down at the floor before looking back up at her. "Camille's just…worried, I guess is the right way to put it." Rhuben's eyebrow twitched and silence fell over them. Riley hitched her bag on her shoulder, squeezing a stream of water into her mouth from her water bottle. "I just wanted to make sure that, you know, you two _are _just friends."

"_Yes,_, we are," Rhuben replied with a hint of an edge to her tone. "Camille's my best friend, I wouldn't do anything like steal her boyfriend from her. Logan's just…just Logan. He's always been my best friend." Riley loudly cleared her throat. "_Our _best friend, _excuse me_."

"You can't really blame her for getting worried, I mean, things are getting serious between them and, I don't know, I guess she's just really noticing how close you guys are," Stephanie replied. She scratched the back of her neck. "And she'd tell this to you herself, but she's…a little intimidated I guess."

"_Still_?" the two girls asked in unison. "_Seriously_?"

Stephanie gave a weak grin. "Just back off a bit I guess is what I'm saying," she said to Rhuben.

"Sure, whatever," Rhuben replied. "I thought that's what I have been doing, but it's no problem." She frowned. "I just wish Camille would tell me this herself. I mean, I _am_ kind of the reason they got together. And, yeah, I'll admit I did like Logan then, and I was kind of shocked, but it's all good now."

_Rhuben stopped writing in her notebook and looking up at Camille, shaking her head, realizing that one of her best girl friends had said something to her. She reached over to turn off the music that was playing on her computer, pulling her ear buds out of her ears. "Say that again?"_

_Camille briefly closed her eyes before sitting down across from Rhuben on the park bench she was sitting on. "I said we're going out again; officially."_

_Rhuben blinked, surprised for a moment (at first she didn't know what her friend was talking about, but then it instantly hit her. Logan and Camille back together after the All Over the World Tour). Camille had explained back around the time of the Palm Woods dance that she had never been asked out before, or been in a relationship, but she had wanted to go to the dance with Logan. And it was obvious to everyone that Logan wanted to go with her. With James's help (and a few stupid ideas and mishaps along the way) they were able to get the two of them together._

_But, neither of them were that great with the idea of dating. Camille used every opportunity she got for an audition to use Logan as someone to kiss, which even impressed Rhuben, but at the same time, neither of them really knew how to take the next big step and officially start going out. It was the little fiasco with James and Camille kissing that really knocked some sense into Logan and had him start to become more of a confident person…which resulted in him suggesting that they just stay friends._

_Rhuben had seen how depressed Logan was afterwards, and was there to become a human snot rag for Camille (against her will) which made her decide to try and get the two back together. Which apparently worked with what Camille was trying to explain to her. _

_"No, the last part," Rhuben said, tucking her pen into her notebook, closing it. "I didn't catch that."_

_"Rhubes," Camille said, a smile coming to her face, "Logan and I are going out again. We're back together; officially." _

_"Oh," Rhuben replied, blinking._

_Camille stared at her and tilted her head a little, as if waiting for her to continue. "That's it?"_

_"What 'That's it'?" Rhuben asked, nonchalantly. "I mean, yeah, it's great. I'm just surprised that my plan worked!" Rhuben smiled, tapping her friend on the knee. "I'm happy for you guys. I can tell you're really happy when you're together._

_"So it's okay with you?" Camille asked, peering closely at her friend. "Really okay with you?" Rhuben opened her mouth, but Camille continued to speak. "I mean, you guys are close, I just wanted to make sure."_

_Why wouldn't it be?" Rhuben asked, brushing her fingers through her hair. She started tapping her foot on the ground. "It's your choice who to date, not mine. We're just friends, that's all. I know it was hard for you to see Logan and I involved with each other while you two were broken up, but that was really weird. I mean, I liked him when I was a kid, and I was thinking that he was still the same risk-free little boy." She then gave a shy smile. "Besides, I'm…kinda—"_

_"Shut up!" Camille cried, slapping Rhuben's leg. "You told me you weren't into Dak."_

_"I wasn't," Rhuben replied with a shake of her head, "or rather, I didn't think I was. I mean…he's just always been there, I guess." She put her hands up defensively. "We were talking about you and Logan. Like I said, you didn't have to ask, I'm ok with it."_

_"You're my best friend of course, it's important to me of what you think," Camille said with a shake of her head. _

_"Thanks," Rhuben replied, moving to put the headphones back into her ears. "Just don't get hurt okay? Or I'll break his neck; you know I will." She stopped what she was doing then got up to give her friend a hug. "Just keep the PDA down to a minimum."_

_"I'll try my best," Camille replied with a laugh, hugging her in return._

"Like I said, I'm just relaying the message," Stephanie said, putting her hands up defensively. "I don't want you to get mad. I kind of get where she's coming from."

"I'm not mad," Rhuben replied, "and you'd know if I was. Thanks for telling me, Steph. I'll back off for sure, I didn't realize it was bothering her so much." She frowned. "For someone so perceptive, I didn't see that one coming."

* * *

**A/N: **So, if you guys didn't see my tweet, this fic will actually be 20 chapters long. Thinking about it, 15 was too short. Not much happened in this, but you got to see a little bit more to the Lella friendship as well. Hope you guys liked it. From here, the fic kind of deviates on who the chapter is centered around.

Anyway, I updated this again before _Never Again_ because it was going into more detail about something we've hinted at a few times (Stephanie being a backup dancer for them) and I really wanted you guys to get some more info on that.

**Cheers,**

**-Rhubes**


	7. Forget About Our Past

_A Virgo knows that all relationships have ups & downs but they still stick around and try to make it work. (Most of the time)._

* * *

**~7~**

Rhuben, for the most part, kept her home life a secret for a reason.

It sucked.

And the arrival of one letter made it even harder.

That's not to say that she didn't love her family to death, because she did, and she always knew that they'd be there for her no matter what. But despite the one step she took to move on from her past something would always be there to take her back two more steps. And this birthday card was no exception.

_Thinking of you on this day of special days._

"Yeah, fucking right," Rhuben muttered as she folded the card, shoving it back into the envelope it came in.

"He could've at least sent it _on_ your birthday," Patrick said, before taking a large bite of cantaloupe. He used his arm to wipe the juice off of his mouth before taking another bite. "How out of it is he?" He was standing behind the kitchen counter, elbows resting on the formica top. He then straightened and pushed his foot on the ground, skating around the island, dodging Sydney who ran by to get to the fruit basket, and stopped at the table. He grabbed the card, and looked at it, wrinkling his nose. "Boofhead didn't even sign it."

"Off the skateboard," Ronan said, looking up from his newspaper and over at his son. "_Now_." Patrick immediately jumped off his bored and stomped on the end, catching the other end as it flipped up towards him. "How many times do I have to tell you that?" Patrick merely shrugged, dropping into his seat. He put the skateboard on the ground and placed his feet on top of it, slowly rolling it back and forth.

"Better than tripping over it all the time," Riley called from the kitchen. She winked at Sydney, who was sitting on the counter beside where she was cooking bacon, and he giggled before taking a large bite out of the apple in his hands.

"You do the same with your guitar," Noah commented, from where he was sitting (across the table from Patrick). His head was hidden from view behind his computer as he slumped forward in his chair, reading something.

"Not denying it," Riley said with a shrug.

"Did you open your card?" Patrick asked, reaching across the table to grab hers. Before she could answer, he pulled off the sticker from the back of the red envelope, and pulled out the car. "_The fact that everybody loves you makes it evident that we've raised a great daughter!_'." Patrick let out a loud bark of laughter. "He crossed out 'we've' and put 'I'. What a dill."

"Pat, you should've let Riley open that," Ronan said with a sigh, setting down the newspaper.

"She wouldn't open it, she'd set it on fire," Patrick replied with a snort. "He didn't even personalize them." He then turned around in his seat and pouted at his sister. "Rileeeyyyy. I'm hungryyyy."

"If you would stop whiiining like an ankle biiiiterrr, _maybe_ I'd hurry up," Riley muttered, causing Sydney to start laughing. He jumped down to the ground before taking one of the last chairs at the breakfast table, sitting at the end, across from Ronan. Riley turned the fire off under the skillet and grabbed tongs to put the bacon on a plate and carried over bowls of eggs and hash browns, a plate for bacon, and a pitcher of orange juice. "Here! Now, quit acting like a baby."

"You know…if it wasn't for you getting this card, I'd think you were PMSing," Patrick said as Riley took the final seat at the table, sitting next to him.

Riley's upper lip curled, but before she could say anything else, Ronan cleared his throat, offering his hands to Riley and Rhuben; the two girls took Patrick and Noah's hands, and Patrick and Noah grabbed Sydney's hands.

"We fold our hands and softly say, thank you for our food today, amen," the six of them said together before reaching for the stacks of plates and silver wear in the center of the table, passing it around before passing around the dishes so each of them could get their potion of food.

"No, put your computer away, please," Ronan said to his son when he spotted Noah had moved his computer to his lap, using one hand to scroll through something. "What are you even looking at anyway?" Noah quickly closed his computer lid when Sydney leaned over to see what it was.

"Nothing important," Noah replied with a shake of his head, before setting his computer aside.

"You ok?" Ronan asked, looking over at Rhuben, who had been silent since she stopped reading the card. "Anything you want to talk about?"

Rhuben wrinkled her nose, shaking her head. "Not really."

Unlike Riley, who showed her anger by lashing out at you the moment you looked at her sideways when she was pissed off, Rhuben was always quiet. That could be a good or bad thing depending on how you went to goad an answer out of her. Rhuben was always the type to sit back and think things out before saying anything in anger; in case she flew off the handle and said things she didn't mean (which isn't impossible, but is rare).

While she was mad that Robert continued to try and contact her, she didn't know what to think of it. A birthday card was just something she started to expect. She never really wanted to open them since they were all the same; a simple greeting, his named signed by his slanted handwriting, and that was it. And he was always around breathing down her neck to make sure she _did _open it, as if he was excited to see her reaction. Which is why, especially for this birthday (which he was a week off) she didn't want to open it. She didn't want to remember anything that had to do with him.

But, times were different; he wasn't around anymore, but she thought about what she and her siblings had gone through more often. He had to have had some ulterior motive, but this didn't seem to be any indicator for it. And that was what freaked her out. It was always an attack she didn't expect that lasted the most damage. It was those kinds that quickly taught her how to, in a way, internalize her anger.

"You sure?" Ronan asked before biting into a crispy piece of bacon.

"Yeah, thanks," Rhuben replied, tapping her fingernails on her glass. She then turned towards her brothers. "You guys need a ride or anything today? 'Cause Riles and I were going over to Dak's today."

"We're hanging out with daddy today," Sydney said, over his lip smacking chewing of the fruit on his plate. "But, have fun with your boyfriends' today."

"You mean their _pretend_ boyfriends," Patrick said with a grin.

Rhuben rolled her eyes, letting out a sigh. This wasn't a new subject, and it wasn't anything new that Patrick was teasing her about. She and Dak Zevon were just, close, sometimes flirty, friends, but that was it. She valued her friendship with him a lot, and it was really important to her, so she was happy to have him in her life just the way things are now. But, everybody always wanted them to have more. Sometimes, she didn't understand the reasoning, and sometimes she'd even have to agree, but she didn't want to change her relationship with him for a number of reasons.

"By the way, can I borrow your bass?" Riley asked, lightly hitting Patrick on the arm, he instantly jabbed her back with his elbow. "Unless you were going to use it today." As Patrick took a sip of his orange juice, he shook his head, making a face.

"Ripped the calluses on my fingers the other day," he replied, holding up his hand to show it to her.

"That reminds me," Ronan said, instantly getting their attention. "I kind of brought this up before, but I didn't think it was the right time. With the girls' 18th birthday coming up…well, it's also around the anniversary of your parents' death." He looked each of his kids in the eye before continuing. "I don't know if you've ever actually taken the time to accept—"

"We've accepted it," Riley interrupted him.

"Ok, _mourn_, their deaths," Ronan replied, giving her a pointed look. Noah pushed his half-eaten plate away from him, resting his arms on the table. "I just wondered if…if _you_ think it'd be a good idea to do something to celebrate their lives or something." He cleared his throat. "Like I said, only if you want to."

"Can we think about it?" Rhuben asked, spearing a chunk of eggs, sticking them in her mouth. "These are good, Riles." She gave a brief nod of thanks.

"Sure," Ronan replied quietly, noticing the change in demeanor around the table.

It wasn't that they were sad, but that they were thinking back, trying to remember anything about their parents. They loved their parents so much, to have them suddenly ripped away, and they never really had a chance to wrap their minds around what happened. It was a whirl wind between the fire and then being in the care of Robert.

It wasn't that often that they thought about their parents, but when they did, they got quiet. Sydney had the hardest time remembering them as he was barely a year old, but after the subject was brought up, you could expect him to stick by the side of one of his family members, following them around all day.

"Just tell me what you think, I think this would be really good for you," Ronan replied, reaching for his glass of orange juice. Whether he was actually thirsty or wanted to fill the silence, it didn't matter that much. He looked up as the phone rang.

Patrick leaned back in his chair and grabbed the phone out of its cradle, looking at the caller ID, before jabbing his thumb into the answer key, holding it to his ear. "How ya going? Sure, hold on." He put his hand over the mouthpiece of the phone. "It's Steph." Riley and Rhuben instantly held their hand out for the phone, but Patrick held it out to Noah, who blinked in surprise. "It's for you."

"Me?" Noah asked, a confused look crossing his face. He reached for the phone and let out a huff of annoyance when Patrick pulled the phone away from him, grinning at him.

"Do you still fancy her?" Patrick asked.

"Kind of," Noah replied, "whatever, dude. Give me the phone." Riley grabbed the phone out of Patrick's hand and tossed it to her brother. Noah pushed his chair back and gave Patrick the finger, making his way out of the room.

"That's two dollars in the Potty Mouth Bucket," Sydney called after his brother.

"I didn't even say anything," Noah said as he lifted the phone to his ear.

Sydney gave a cheeky smile. "It still counts."

* * *

Dak flipped through the channels on the TV as he sat on the couch in his living room before looking across the room and over at the chair that Rhuben was sitting in.

"How's it going over there?" he asked for the umpteenth time that afternoon. WayneWayne, who was sitting on the couch next to him, made a noise of annoyance before snatching the remote from his friend's hand, trying to find something on the TV. Riley sat in another chair, across from Rhuben, tuning the bass that she had in her hands, a notebook in her lap.

Rhuben peered at him over the tops of her glasses, an object she barely ever wore unless she needed to. She also had a notebook in her lap, and had been writing in it, ignoring his attempts to get her attention, which caused him to ask the same question over and over and _over _again.

"Are you going to ask that every five minutes?" she shot back, annoyance filling her blue eyes. Dak pursed his lips as he thought about it.

"Will it make you work harder?" he asked with a shrug.

Rhuben's look of annoyance quickly changed into a look of amusement. "It will make me irritable," she replied.

Dak made a noise of realization and snapped his fingers before shutting off the TV. "Is that why your eyes are shooting sparks?" She leveled a stare at him and he put his hands up defensively. "All right, all right, I'll be quiet." Chastened, he slouched against the couch cushions, going nowhere.

Rhuben sighed and closed her textbook. "I hate it when you do that," she commented. "I won't be able to concentrate on this now, not with your hormones making you restless. Y'know, for someone who can't stress enough how important my school work is and everything, you're doing a pretty good job of possibly making me _fail_."

"Yeah, right," WayneWayne said, turning away from the TV. "Like you're doing homework." Rhuben stuck her tongue out at him, and he quickly did the same to her.

"Nice guilt trip," Riley complimented her twin, arching an eyebrow before giving her an amused grin.

"Who knew you would actually listen to me for once in your life?" Dak asked.

"Ha ha." Rhuben rolled her eyes. "What do you want anyway?" WayneWayne and Riley exchanged glances and Rhuben rolled her eyes. She then said in a deep voice, obviously mocking Dak, "_How's it going over there_?" It was her turn to arch an eyebrow. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were impatient about something. So, again I ask, 'what do you want'?"

"You've been on edge lately," WayneWayne commented. He switched off the TV, setting the remote down on the arm of the chair. "What Camille said really got to you, didn't it?" He rested his elbows on his knees, and rested his chin on his fists. "Are you really that surprised? I mean…Camille's a jealous person."

"That wasn't hard to figure out," Riley said with a roll of her eyes, "not after what Jo told me. Camille practically took her head off claiming Logan was hers and all she said was that she wasn't looking for a boyfriend at the time."

"It's just…I get where she's coming from," Rhuben said with a heavy sigh, running her fingers through her hair. "Really, I do. Camille and Logan are honestly, great together. But, I'm not acting any different than I have been before."

"She understands your guys' friendship," WayneWayne explained, "she really does. Camille and I have special things between us as well. I just think that…she's worried she won't have a bond that's anywhere near as close as what you two have."

Rhuben nodded. That wasn't all. She was still surprised that Camille didn't come talk to_ her _about what was bothering her instead of going to their other friends. She had always been associated with the descriptive word that she was "intimidating." It wasn't something she particularly cared to be called, but it was something that she didn't think she could shake.

Younger kids at meet and greets were naturally scared, but the older kids didn't have a problem rushing up to her to ask for an autograph. And being with Camille, Jo, and Stephanie for so long, as well as hanging out with Lizzie, and Katie, the idea that they were intimidating was dropped pretty quickly once they learned who she really was. And she was happy about it.

It was just another thing that was pushing her back to her past.

"Anyway, Ronan was wondering if we wanted to do anything for our parents since the anniversary is this month," Riley suddenly tossed out. She was known for bringing up subjects in such nonchalant ways, you'd do a double take, and think hard about whether or not it was actually some bad news of some sort she was giving you. "I feel bad for Syd, since he doesn't really remember mom or dad, but…yeah. I don't know."

Dak looked back and forth between the two girls before sharing a look with WayneWayne. The two boys having been friends with them for so long, they've quickly learned when to ask for an elaboration on things, and when to keep quiet.

"…Well, are you?" WayneWayne asked.

"That's the funny thing," Riley said, tapping her hands on the bass, causing a deep thawking sound to repeatedly hit the air. "We've just all been working on this song latlely, and it kind of turned into…what we think is a song about our mom."

"Could you get your guitar?" Rhuben asked, turning to Dak. Dak nodded, getting up out of his seat. He hurried up the stairs, reappearing minutes later with his guitar. "Ok, I'm going to teach you how to play this song real quick." She let out a heavy sigh, blowing her hair out of her face. "Ronan wants me to learn how to play, but I can't pick up songs that fast."

Riley and Rhuben quickly taught Dak how, what they had of the song so far went, showing him the chord changes, and how Riley's bass line went, and Riley tapped her hand on the bass counting out how fast the song went before they started playing.

"Tell me, are you feeling strong? Strong enough to love someone," Riley started the song, as Dak played along with her. She was singing slightly higher than her normal vocal range. "And make it through the hardest storm, and bad weather."

"Will you pull me from the flames?" Rhuben sang next, looking down at the notebook in her lap, matching the pitch her sister had just sang. "Hold me 'til I feel no pain and give me shelter from the rain. Forever."

"Where can I find her?" the two girls sang in unison, their voices mixing together.

"She took the light and left me in the dark," Riley sang, (as Rhuben came in at the end of the line singing, "Eh.") "She left me with a broken heart ("Eh.) Now I'm on my own if anybody sees her."

"Eh, eh, eh," Rhuben sang, bobbing her head to the beat.

"Shine a light on her," Riley sang.

"Eh, eh, eh."

"Shine a light on her."

"Eh, eh, eh."

"Shine a light on her."

"Eh. Eh."

"If anybody sees her," the two of them sang together. Riley quickly played a random rhythm on the bass guitar before shrugging. "Yeah."

"That was good," WayneWayne said, clapping his hands as Dak put the guitar aside. "I think you should show Ronan and I think you guys should do something for your parents. It'd be therapeutic, I guess." He shrugged. "I mean, it's really up to you."

"Ronan said he'd give us time to figure it out," Rhuben replied. She then let out a sigh before reaching for her backpack at her feet. "So, who wants to help me with my science homework?"

"I thought you were doing better in science," Dak said, arching an eyebrow. "Why don't you tell us what you're always writing in that notebook?" He leaned forward, reaching for it.

"I'd suggest you keep away from that unless you _want_ to have a club for a hand," Riley said with a shake of her head as Rhuben slapped Dak hard on the hand. WayneWayne started laughing when he saw the bright red spot appear on Dak's hand. "Ronan gave us notebooks; to write stuff down, thoughts feelings, songs, anyway to let our feelings out if he's not around for us to talk to him about. But, if it's too private, we turn down the corner of the page because we let him read them. He gets us a new one whenever we fill one up. They're kind of like journals."

"I didn't know that," WayneWayne replied.

"Why would you?" Riley asked, in an even tone.

"If he's pretending to be your boyfriend, I think there's _some_ things he has to know about you," Dak said with an exaggerated eyeroll. "Only personally, I don't think he's pretending."

"Shut up, dude!" WayneWayne said as he grabbed the pillow from behind him, whacking Dak in the face with it. Dak immediately grabbed the pillows from his end of the couch and practically jumped on top of WayneWyane, smacking him repeatedly with them.

"Boys," Riley said with a roll of her eyes. She looked towards the hallway of the Zevon house when she heard high pitched barking and laughed as she watched Snowball and Milo raced into the room, yapping as they practically tumbled over each other, tails wagging furiously before they made their way over to the two girls. "Hey, Milo. How are you?"

Rhuben reached down and lifted the white dog from the ground, holding him in her lap. "Your dad's acting just like you," she cooed in a baby voice as she scratched the dog behind its ears. She laughed as it licked her wrist before starting to bite at her wrist band.

"I am not!" Dak protested, immediately stopping what he was doing, smoothing his hair, dropping back down into his seat. "Oh. Hey, mom."

"I brought you some snacks in case you were hungry," Jen said as she carried a tray into the room with a bowl of popcorn and four bottles of soda. "Nice to see you again, Wally." WayneWayne gave a smile as he grabbed one of the soda bottles. Jen nodded over at Riley and Rhuben. "Rhuben. Riley. Nice to see you, as well, dears. I hope you're doing well."

"Mom, it's—"

"Nice to see you again, Mrs. Ze—Jen," Rhuben replied with a polite smile, as Riley slowly shook her head back and forth in Dak's direction.

"Will you stay for dinner?" Jen asked, clasping her hands together.

"I can't, I have to get home and make dinner tonight," WayneWayne replied. "But, thank you for offering. Maybe another time."

"Yes, I understand," Jen replied, before facing the two girls. "And what about you, two? Actually, now that I think about it, I don't think I've ever had your whole family over." The temperature in the room dropped a few degrees. Riley and Rhuben exchanged glances across the room, but didn't say anything. "It's normally you two here for the boys, and the boys here with the girls." She gave an odd tinkling laugh. "How about it? Dinner at the Zevon home?"

Riley shook her head, "We don't want to impose."

"Oh, it'd be no imposition at all," Jen replied, waving her hand in the air. "Elizabeth would love to have you over."

"We really can't but thank you for the offer," Rhuben replied, allowing Snowball to be a distraction to her. She gave a brief smile as the dog rolled onto it's back, kicking its paws in the air as she scratched his stomach.

She understood what Mrs. Zevon was trying to do, and a part of her appreciated her for it, but it was pretty creepy. She would rather have Mrs. Zevon act as if nothing had happened, but she knew she couldn't change that at all. Plus, she hated seeing how uncomfortable Dak got whenever his parents were around; Mr. Zevon was a little more tame, but Dak was always on edge, worried that his parents would say something mean or embarrassing.

"Well, I'll leave you alone," Jen said, snapping her fingers, and the two dogs jumped to the ground, running to lick at her ankles. "It was nice seeing you all again."

"Sorry," Dak said as soon as she was out of ear shot.

"Don't apologize," Riley instantly replied. "It's ok, really." Silence fell over the four of them for a while. "So, Rhubes, what are you going to do about Logan then? If you're backing off."

"Just hang out with him less I guess," Rhuben replied, scratching the back of her neck. "Actually, Dak, you could really help me out with something."

"If this is one of your 'plans' I don't think it's going to work," WayneWayne said, using airquotes around the word. "It never does."

"_My _plans don't fail…Riles's plans do," Rhuben replied.

"_Mine_ don't, _Kendall's_ do," Riley instantly corrected her.

Rhuben rolled her eyes, shaking her head. Both Riley and Kendall were best known for making plans out of both of their bands. Mainly to help Big Time Rush get whatever it was that Gustavo wouldn't let them have, but at other times to get them out of trouble that another plan put them in, in the first place.

"So, how can I help?" Dak asked, looking interested. "Just to be clear, I'd do anything to help you anyway, but I'm just saying."

"I don't think Camille is ever really going to stop worrying about me and Logan, despite how many times I've tried to tell her that I'm not interested in him," Rhuben said, an annoyed look briefly passing over her face. "In fact, I might have even sort of told her that—"

"You're into me," Dak finished with a grin, "I don't really blame you."

"I said _might_ _have_," Rhuben repeated, blinking at him. _Ugh, why'd you even come up with this stupid idea, Rhuben_? "Anyway, I figured if she saw that I was giving them space by hanging out with you more, then she'd be off my case and things will go smoothly, yeah?"

"Yeah," Dak agreed with a nod.

"No!" WayneWayne cried. "That's not going to work. You're going to be doing more harm than good. You can't pretend to be into each other if you're not actually into each other."

"Gee, Wally, does that remind you of anyone?" Riley asked, her words dripping with sarcasm as she looked over at him. He blushed.

"Well, that's different," he replied, weakly.

"How?" she asked, looking amused.

"It just is," WayneWayne insisted before grabbing a handful of popcorn, shoving it into his mouth. He rapidly chewed, and then swallowed. "I really don't see this working; seriously."

Rhuben did consider what WayneWayne had to say a lot of the time, but in this case she knew that this was the only way to have Camille not be so freaked out about her friendship with Logan. She knew that things would be kind of awkward at first, but she and Logan have always been able to talk things out. _He'll understand._

Out of the "second group of friends" WayneWayne was the voice of reason and one to think things through before acting on them, while Dak tried to find things to do all the time, to keep everyone entertained. In essence, WayneWayne had Logan's personality and Dak had Kendall's personality. The girls often joked that that was why they hung out with the two boys; because they were their opposites, but less active.

"Logan will understand once I tell him," Rhuben announced, getting to her feet. "Let's go play video games or something. I don't feel like doing any homework." She paused and added with a small laugh. "And I want the attention off me." She moved to grab the bowl of popcorn and a bottle of soda, but barely took two steps when a maid came rushing into the room, taking it from her.

"Where would you like these, Dakary?" the girl asked, indicating to the bowl in her hands. Dak cringed as WayneWayne turned a laugh into a coughing fit at the name.

"It's alright, Clara, we've got it," Dak replied, blushing a little bit as he took the bowl from her. It was no secret that the Zevons had a lot of money, but Dak, and neither was Lizzie for that matter, wasn't one that liked showing off how rich they were.

"Are you sure?" Clara asked, widening her green eyes and Dak nodded. "Are they staying for dinner? I'll tell cook! He can start preparing right away."

"No, no, Clara, that's ok!" Dak said, holding out his hands, stopping her from moving. "Really, we're fine. They're not staying for dinner, but thank you."

"You're welcome, Dakary," Clara replied, giving a curtsey before she scurried off.

"Sometimes, it really scares me how she can just pop up at random like that," WayneWayne commented. Riley muttered in agreement, catching her sisters eye. They had the same thought. _It's also scary how someone else pops up at random_?

Rhuben looked over at her backpack. She had her birthday card from Robert inside. No one outside of their family knew about them always getting cards on their birthdays, and she wanted to bring it up to them, one of them, wondering what they could do about it.

She already knew Kendall's answer, both of their family's having been screwed over by their dads. But, at the same time, she didn't know how to bring it up. For bringing it up with everyone else would mean that one of them would probably give her the one suggestion she didn't want to hear.

But the one person she really wanted to tell, and the only one she ever really had very important conversations like this with, was the one she was backing off from. Yep. Her home life sucked from time to time.

* * *

**A/N: **For those of you who were confused; in the last chapter with the flash back, that was also set in the third season (like this fic is) but shortly after the Jacksons got back from Australia, and before the first chapter starts.

I don't own the lyrics to _Shin_e A _Light_. The song is by McFly. I suggest you listen to it! It's a great song and they're a great band!

Hope you guys liked this chapter.

**Cheers,**

**-Rhubes**


	8. I'm Looking at You

_Telling a Virgo not to worry is like telling a bird not to fly. It's just what they do._

* * *

**~8~**

Logan leaned back against the tree trunk in Palm Woods park days later. It was his first day off in a while, and he wanted to make the most of it. The sun was shining through the trees, casting dancing shapes on him and Camille as the leaves tossed and turned in the wind. Camille let out a satisfied sigh, resting her head on Logan's shoulder. He reached for her hand and intertwined their fingers. Shivers shot down his spine when she slowly stroked his arm, her fingertips brushing his warm skin.

Camille suddenly cupped his cheek with her hand, kissing him. Logan kissed her back with more passion, sliding his tongue along her bottom lip. His hands gently pulling down the straps of her tank top to touch the bare skin on her shoulders.

He sighed heavily when an alarm on his phone went off. Camille pulled away, brushing her hair over her shoulders, adjusting her shirt. "I should just go," she told him.

"Hard pass," Logan said with a shake of his head, pulling her closer to him when she tried to get up. "I want to be with you as long as I can. I have another hour before I need to be back at Rocque Records."

"You're lucky I love the feel of you holding me," Camille replied with a smile, kissing him again before curling into his side.

"I'm sorry," Logan said with a sigh. "I wish I could spend more time with you, but—" Camille lifted a hand and placed it over his mouth.

"It's fine," she replied, "besides, I'm meeting WayneWayne for ice cream later."

Logan groaned. He wished he could have ice cream, but his workout routine was against it. He wished he could do a lot of things, but with his growing work schedule, he was finding it harder and harder to do the things he really wanted. Having a week off of work was becoming a rarity, and it was harder to have guy's time with Kendall, James, and Carlos, or hang out on Fridays, and especially find time to spend with Camille.

_But, this is what you signed up for when you agreed to come out here with Kendall_, Logan thought to himself, running his fingers through Camille's hair. _You knew if you were to become successful things would get complicated. But, when did that really happen_?

He already knew the answer to that without really having to think about it. Everything started to get so stressful to him around the time he figured out about his friends' abuse. Here he was, just trying to be friends with them again, when discovered that little bombshell. With the pressure of making good music and perfecting his dance skills added onto keeping that little tidbit of information quiet, he wondered how he hadn't cracked under the pressure.

When the secret was finally out, he was happy knowing that his friends were going to be safe, but Rhuben wasn't too happy with him as he had told everyone else, and they had gone to the police about it. Hours they spent at the police station, and they didn't know ultimately what was going to happen. It took a while for him, for any of them, to get their friendship back with the Jacksons. And rightfully so, they had trusted them not to tell and they went behind their backs. It was something that happened to them so often, they just shut everyone and anyone that did something wrong to them out.

_I haven't talked to Rhubes in a while_, he thought, a frown blossoming on his face.

It was weird to suddenly go from finding all the time in the world to talk or hang out to barely seeing each other. But, he knew that that's what Camille had wanted. He was surprised at first when Rhuben had told him, but he could see where Camille was coming from at the same time. Camille was a jealous person, everybody knew that. He knew that she practically bit any girl's head off that looked at him sideways, he was the same way when he figured out she went to the movies and to the Prom with someone that wasn't him. But, they couldn't really blame anyone but themselves; they were just friends at the time, having broken up after he found out about Camille and James kissing not once, but twice.

And Rhuben was always there to talk about anything and everything that was bothering him. And what was bothering him now was how she wasn't around as often. Sure, he knew he could find her at the beach, as that was practically the Jacksons' permanent spot now that they were taking a break from their music, but he never really noticed that even if he didn't have anything to talk to her about at the time, it was comforting to know that she was there for a listening ear.

But, she had made it clear; she didn't want to cause any problems between him and Camille so she was backing off. And that was something he really loved about her; how she would do anything and everything to make her friends happy. Unfortunately, he also noticed that with her doing that, she could inadvertently make herself feel worse. Having gone through her abuse, she always felt like she needed to please people. "Just in case" she would always say with a shrug, as if it wasn't a big deal.

But, it was. He was the only one she really turned to to talk about the horrible things because she knew he wouldn't pressure her to talk about it. Sometimes she would start, and then break off into a silence. He would just sit there, silently giving her comfort, knowing that she would tell him eventually, and he would just have to be patient and be there for her like she was for him with his music career.

But, now she wasn't there and he was starting to miss her presence. After everything he had gone through, just knowing that his friends were there instantly calmed him. Her most of all.

_That's the difference between her and Camille_, Logan thought with a heavy sigh, using his free hand to fork his fingers through his hair. He loved Camille, he knew he deep in his heart that he did. But, he had also liked Rhuben since he was a kid. Despite all the bad things Rhuben had gone through, she was always quick to point out how his problems weren't that bad, and that things could be worse. _If only I knew_.

Whereas with Camille…it wasn't that he didn't trust her, but it was just hard to forget that she and James had kissed. Sure, he forgave her for it, and after a while, their relationship took off again, but he always had a nagging feeling that something wasn't right between him and that no matter how hard they tried, it wouldn't feel right. But, he didn't know how to bring it up to her; he knew that she loved him too, and that was a great feeling. He enjoyed her company, her laugh, her smile, hearing about her dreams, helping her with her audition, and of course making out with her. But, that didn't seem to be much of a basis of a relationship. After his time spent in California, he still didn't really know anything about her; he didn't even know her favorite color or her favorite food.

Camille stirred at his side when his phone went off a second time. He had thirty minutes left to get to Rocque Records. He already knew that he was going to be late, but it didn't bother him as much as it normally would. He had a lot on his mind; not like that was anything new, but he didn't think he was going to get a resolution as soon as he hoped. For it was hard to find an answer on what he should do when he could feel his relationship with his girlfriend waning, and his feelings for his best friend returning.

It wasn't the first time he felt his feelings get stronger for her. She wasn't stupid; she knew that he liked her. Everything felt right and wrong when they had dated for a brief moment. He was happy knowing he was finally getting his chance with her, but he saw how much it hurt Camille. And Rhuben saw it, too. Once again, Rhuben had put her feelings aside to stop hurting Camille. "I'm still your best friend," she said to him at the time, "and that's a pretty good deal because I can still have you in my life." And he had agreed, but he was also disappointed. He wondered how long he could hold everything in; he was always wishy-washy, find it hard to make decisions about tings. Because of this, he found that people generally made decisions for him.

But, he was smart, he would figure it out.

"I better get going," he finally said, his voice soft.

"I'll miss you," Camille said with a smile before pressing a kiss to his lips. The spark was still there, he couldn't deny that.

"Have fun, and eat some extra ice cream for me," Logan said as soon as he broke the kiss.

He got to his feet, giving Camille a hug, before gathering up everything from the picnic, making his way to the parking lot, heading over to the Big Tim Rush mobile. He threw everything into the backseat, heading towards Rocque Records, bracing himself for a day filled with yelling.

* * *

"I just want you to know, if it's not entirely clear to you yet, you're all crazy people," WayneWayne said to Camille before scooping out a chunk of their shared sundae. Camille let out a laugh, shaking her head.

It was getting closer to evening, but the air was warm, a unique setting that stimulated the senses. Warm nights encouraged activity, demanding festivities regardless of what day of the week it was. A special time like that had to be spent outdoors with sheer optimism. It didn't hurt that it was the weekend either. Everybody wanted to be outside. It was great weather, not a single cloud in the sky. And Camille, sitting outside of Handel's Ice Cream and Yogurt Shop, smiled as the warm breeze brushed across her skin.

"You're the craziest person I know," Camille replied, shaking her head. "You're the only other person in this world that goes for it at auditions way more than I could." She reached out her hand to get some ice cream, and gaped when WayneWayne smacked at her spoon with his own, swooping in to get another bite.

"What?" he asked; his mouth full. "I'm a growing boy, I need my food."

"You need manners," Camille replied, grabbing a napkin from the container on the middle of the table, tossing it at him. She motioned to her chin where a blob of chocolate was sitting on his own. WayneWayne smacked his lips after wiping his face clean. "Living in a home with two sisters, Wally, I'm ashamed of you."

"It's the only way to keep my masculine pride in that house," WayneWayne retorted with a shrug. "So, I'm a sloppy eater. So what?" He then gave her a pointed look through his sunglasses. "Don't think changing the subject will work. You obviously don't want to hide something. Do you know why?"

Camille knew why. She and WayneWayne were always open and honest with each other when they talked. It was a little hard for them to rekindle their friendship with Kendall, James, Carlos, and Logan didn't really want to have anything to do with him after he tried to kick Kendall out of the band, but with the Jacksons's help, they were able to prove to everyone that WayneWayne wasn't a bad person.

_Logan was right; they're always around to help people out. How could people that are so helpful not ever want to help themselves_? Camille thought, working out a chunk of brownie out of the ice cream, spooning it into her mouth. "I'm not in the mood for your psychoanalysis talk today," Camille said with a shake of her head.

"You don't have to. I'll tell you why," WayneWayne replied. "You're still feeling guilty about kissing James."

"That was a long time ago," Camille reminded him in an even tone. "Sure, I felt guilty at the time, but not anymore. I mean, Logan and I are back together and we love each other."

"And yet, you don't sound too happy," WayneWayne said, pointing his spoon at her. "Both you and Rhubes just need to sit down and talk this out instead of talking around each other." He set down his spoon and folded his arms on the table. "Steph said she wasn't mad; annoyed, yes, but not mad. You can't really blame her, I mean, you were kind of in the same predicament when Kendall and them wouldn't hang out with you when I was around."

"But, that's different, they all hated you," Camille cried. "No offense."

WayneWayne waved his hand in the air, showing that it didn't bother him. It was no secret that Kendall openly hated WayneWayne. It was weird to see someone who was always nice, and open to everyone actually show hate to anyone. It took him the longest to be won over, but he did eventually get there.

"And yet they still pretty much told you not to be friends with me," WayneWayne replied with a strange, sad smile. "But, you wouldn't stop."

"Of course," Camille said, feeling herself give him an "Awwwww" look.

"Well, Rhuben's respecting your wishes and backing off," WayneWayne continued. "You know the Jacksons don't do anything…well, normal. They're always thinking two steps ahead of everybody. But, ultimately, you have to realize that she values your friendship since you, Jo, and Stephanie, apart from Katie and Lizzie, are really the only girl friends that she's had." He started eating the ice cream again. "You're jealous of her friendship with Logan, since you guys used to be close."

Camille scoffed, focusing her attention on the melting ice cream in front of her. "I'm not going to waste my time trying to convince you."

That was mainly due in part because he had hit the nail on the head, whether or not she wanted to admit it. She _was _jealous of how close Rhuben and Logan were. After everything with James, it took them so long to get back together and to show their feelings for each other again.

_Rhubes was kind of in the same predicament, though. It took him a while to be friends with her and Riley again, and the same thing happened after he told everyone about their abuse. But, they got the ball rolling on their friendship again, faster than us._ Camille slowly worked the hunk of ice cream in her mouth around her tongue, increasing the speed of it melting. She shook her head as if trying to get the thought, or any of her unpleasant lingering thoughts, out of her mind, her wavy hair gently slapping her face.

"Ok," WayneWayne said with a slow nod, "then don't waste your time trying to convince yourself."

Camille let out a huff of air, giving him a hard stare. "That's not funny."

"Who's laughing?" WayneWayne deadpanned, pushing his sunglasses up into his hair. "Seriously. But, you're only human, you can't help how you feel. I could be wrong, but I feel like you're looking for feelings that aren't necessarily there anymore."

Camille's shoulders rose, stiffening with tension, as she was uncomfortable with how the conversation was going. At the same time, she knew that WayneWayne would be honest with whatever it was that was on his mind, but at the same time, she wished he wouldn't do that. Just for the time being, at least.

"I want to talk to her but…it's always hard to figure out what she's thinking when I do," Camille said with a shake of her head.

"It's hard to figure out what _any_ of you girls are thinking," WayneWayne pointed out with a roll of his eyes.

"So, how're things going with you and Riley?" Camille asked with a grin.

"Shut up."

* * *

**A/N: **A nice long chapter that shows the inner turmoil of all three main people. I think I'm going to stick to this format the rest of the time, but it also depends on what the main plot of the chapter is. I hope you guys liked this chapter.

Sorry for the delay in updating my fics, I was getting my big homework things out of the way before I got off on break.

**Cheers,**

**-Rhubes**


	9. That Girl Will Never Be Mine

_Virgos will often hold back their feelings to avoid hurting other people's feelings.  
_

* * *

**~9~**

"Mama Knight, I need your advice on something," Logan said to Mrs. Knight as he stepped into apartment 2J. "It's important."

"I can probably guess what it is," Mrs. Knight commented with a warm smile as Logan slipped into a seat at the kitchen table. She pushed a plate of cookies, which looked to be freshly baked, towards him. "Camille and Rhuben right?"

Logan nodded. He was so confused. Anybody could easily say that he was indecisive, which he was, he wouldn't deny it. But, this was the most indecisive he has ever been his entire life. He never thought he'd be put in a situation like this. He loved both girls, and he knew his feelings for Camille were waning, but he didn't know how to tell her, or how to tell his childhood best friend that he wanted to give them another chance, without her feeling like she was the reason that he and Camille would inevitably break up.

"None of you are going to be happy if you all don't sit down and talk things out," Mrs. Knight commented as Logan took a cookie, taking a large bite out of it, saving himself from having to answer. "I know that being a teenager right now is hard, but things will get easier for you as you get older. You'll be able to make more decisions without having to worry about the consequences. Just go with your gut feeling."

"My gut is telling me, and has always been telling me, that it's Bella," Logan replied with a sigh, after swallowing his mouthful of cookie. "I just don't know how to tell Camille. I mean, sure, things are complicated between us, but I love her, too."

"No one ever said that if you do decide to break up with Camille that you have to stop being friends with her," Mrs. Knight pointed out to him. "I mean, you were friends with Rhuben when you were kids, and then you got here and fell for Camille, but while you two were broken up, because James and Camille kissed, you and Rhuben dated, but decided that you just wanted to be friends, and then after you got back from tour, you and Camille started dating again." Logan opened his mouth to answer, but Mrs. Knight continued.

"Now, it could be just because the Jacksons understand tour life and everything, but from what I recall, the whole time you were gone, you were in constant communication with Rhuben, while Camille waited for an email or a text here and there. I think it's obvious who you want to be with. I mean, the first person you go to whenever something amazing happens with your music or life in general is her."

"But, Mama Knight—"

"Telling someone you don't love them anymore isn't the easiest thing, Logan, trust me, I know," Mrs. Knight replied. Logan let out a heavy sigh, taking another bite of the cookie. "Before my husband left us, I had told him that I wasn't in love with him anymore. He wasn't the person I fell in love with; he had changed, and I didn't like the person he was changing into."

"He didn't take it well, which is quite understandable, but for someone who has no problem talking to people whether they need advice, or just to vent or just to catch up, I could barely get those words out of my mouth. And a few nights later, he slipped out in the middle of the night. It was a bad way to go about it, but, I'm glad I told him how I felt. I wasn't happy because I was trying so hard to keep everyone else around me to be happy. I know I must say this a lot when it comes to giving you all advice, but you deserve to be happy, too. Who knows? Maybe you'll actually be happy this way; you'd at least stop trying to make things work for each other."

"Okay, with all due respect, mom, both of you shut up!" Katie said with a huff of annoyance as she stomped out of the room she and her mother shared. "We have a problem we need to solve. And we're going to do it soon, because all this mushy crap is driving me crazy." Logan made a noise in the back of his throat as he put his face in his hands. "You need to talk to Camille and explain things to her."

"She's going to hate me, I know she will," Logan said with a shake of his head. "She…she feels like she has to compete with Rhubes; with our history. But, she doesn't. No matter how many times I've told her that, she feels like she has to be better than her."

"But if you talk to her-"

"God, you're stupid, Logan. You two are the most insanely jealous people I've ever met in my entire life," Katie interrupted her mom, laughing a little bit. She threw her arms in the air. "Seriously! You were upset with Camille kissing James because _everybody_ loves James, But, who was it that was able to help you get over your break up with her? Rhubes? Why? Because you have a history."

She started to pace, continuing her speech whenever Mrs. Knight and Logan tried to jump in. "Camille kissed James because you were too busy trying to help Rhuben get over her PTSD, which I don't blame you for, but you inevitably started to push her away. But, while the two of you were broken up, and after you and Rhubes dated, you noticed how much you missed Camille and got back together with her after tour."

She paused, and looked at Logan. "Now, I could be wrong, but I think you only decided to date Camille again, was because you knew that both you and Rhuben decided to just be friends. But, you can't handle that. And now here we are." She put her hand down on the table and leaned towards Logan. "Are you really just going to give up so easily? You're doing to—" she cringed, "dump the puck? Or are you going to chase after it 'big time?'"

Logan couldn't help but laugh a little bit. Logan knew how much she hated it when Kendall used hockey terms in his day to day speech, and he had to agree, it did get annoying, but he was used to it, and that was just how Kendall was; he used something they all understood for his pep talks. And it always helped. Who knew it'd rub off on Katie.

"What do you think, Mama Knight?" Logan asked with a sigh.

"I already told you what I thought," Mrs. Knight replied patiently. She looked over at her daughter, giving her a pointed look. "Now, I at least tried to be nice about it." Katie gave a sheepish grin.

"You're both right, of course," Logan replied with a heavy sigh, running his fingers through his hair. "If only this could be as easy as math. At least then I wouldn't feel so stupid."

"To be fair, I don't think anyone can be as stupid as you're being right now," Katie replied with a twitch of her eyebrow.

Logan looked up at Katie with a slight glare. All he wanted was advice, and while she did give it to him, Katie wasn't helping to make him feel better about the whole situation. Still, Katie wasn't phased by her friend and instead looked rather seriously at him.

"She loves you," she said quietly. She then jokingly punched him on the shoulder. "Not sure why she does, but Rhu, she loves you and you love her too."

"So what?" Logan asked with a growl of annoyance. "This whole thing was so messed up from the beginning. Especially with how Dak feels about her."

"Whether or not Rhuben has romantic feelings for Dak, it doesn't matter, since she has stronger feelings for you," Mrs. Knight said with a shake of her head. "It's hard to figure out how she feels since she's so used to hiding her feelings, to make sure everything around her goes smoothly, even if she has some inner turmoil. But, Dak is a close friend of hers, she needs him just as much as she needs you. You both have helped her in different ways since…the incident."

She reached out a hand and grasped Logan's, gently squeezing it. "Listen, this will be hard, but a lot things are. You can trust me when I say you won't be able to just forget about Camille and move on," Mrs. Knight said quietly. "Take it from me, when you truly love someone you can't just forget the time you spent with them and sometimes you regret things when you know you didn't do all you could to keep them at your side. They'll always be important to you. But, if you can still be friends, that's even better. And I know Camille wants you in her life in some way, shape or form."

"Well," Katie said with a heavy sigh. "This will make your birthday party tomorrow a whole lot more awkward, won't it?" Logan twisted his mouth to the side, peering up at her as she clapped him on the shoulder.

* * *

Rhuben jumped when a container of Chinese food was thrust under her nose. "Oh, thanks," she said with a smile, taking the container and the pair of chopsticks that Noah held out to her. Rhuben set her computer aside as he sat down on the edge of her bed, digging into his own carton. "What's up?"

"I want to tell you something," Noah replied around a mouthful of chicken lo mein. "It's important."

"When is it not?" Rhuben asked and Noah chuckled, briefly raising his eyebrows.

The two of them were silent for a while as they continued to eat. Rhuben watched him as she ate, but he didn't give any showing of wanting to talk just yet. But, that was ok. He was always the quiet sort, only speaking whenever he really needed to.

"Steph is the only other person that knows," Noah said, brushing his hair out of his face with his shoulder. "I'm gay."

Rhuben blinked, stopping what she was doing, looking up at him. Noah stared back at her, slowly blinking. "Why'd you tell Steph before you told me?"

"I didn't know how you'd react," Noah replied with a shrug before dropping his gaze back to his carton of food. He took a bite before sucking on the end of his chopsticks.

Rhuben raised her eyebrows before tilting her head to the side. "You've been following me around since you could walk, doing everything I do, and you didn't know how I'd react to something like this?" she asked quietly.

"Are you mad?" he asked.

"Boofhead," Rhuben said with a shake of her head. "No, I'm not mad! Why would I be mad? You're still my brother." Noah's cheek twitched and he gave his usual shy smile. "It'll be a little weird, I'll admit, but I'm not mad." She shoved her chopsticks into her Chinese food, before reaching out and mussing his hair.

"I didn't want to give you any more problems," Noah said, "to give you another answer for your question about why I told Steph first. You've been busy with your own stuff lately." Rhuben groaned, putting her forehead in her hand. "I'm not saying you didn't have time for me or anything."

"I know, but it's the truth," Rhuben replied, looking up at him. She let out a weird laugh. "And here I told myself that I'd never act like a lunatic over a guy."

Noah gave a small grin. "At least now I'll know how not to act," he said and the two of them laughed. He flicked his head to the side, moving his hair out of his face. "You didn't seem surprised when I told you."

"Ah," Rhuben slowly nodded. "Not to be mean, but I kind of had a feeling after a while." She swallowed thickly when he gave her a confused look. "I haven't ever really seen you with a girlfriend." She twisted her mouth to the side. "Or…Or I just hadn't noticed."

"Little of both I'd say," Noah said giving their family famous one-shoulder shrug. "But, I don't blame you. I've never seen you like someone as much as Logan. Not even Dak." Rhuben's lips twitched, but she didn't answer as she went back to her food. "You shouldn't be embarrassed about it."

"I don't want to hurt Camille," Rhuben replied, licking her lips.

"You and Camille are hurting yourselves more than you're hurting each other," Noah replied, digging through his lo mein for chunks of chicken. He let out a quiet "Ah ha" when he found one and speared it with his chopstick. "You both like the guy, I get that, but do you really like him enough to drive yourself crazy? His feelings for Camille are changing, we can all see it. It's not fair for her to ask you to leave your friend alone."

"When we met up with Logan again, after he found out about our abuse, I wanted things to be normal between us again," Rhuben said after a moment of silence. "I didn't know how normal we'd be. Whn I'm around Logan, it's more like I feel like a kid again; like I'm eight when Robert wasn't so bad. When we had fun every day. You know I had liked him even back then." Noah nodded. "I mean… I know I said I wanted to be normal, but… I just didn't think that when we saw each other again, things would go back to… _our_ normal, _that_ quickly."

She got off of the bed, setting her carton down before making her way over to her desk. She pushed the chair back, and pulled open the top right desk drawer and pulled out her notebook. Flipping through a few pages, she stopped at one that looked like it was repeatedly folded and then unfolded. She handed the notebook to him.

"New song?" Noah asked, looking at the familiar formation of words in neat blocks. Rhuben made a noise in the back of her throat as Noah quickly started to read. It wasn't all words, but more or less phrases. Logan's name came up a few times.

_I don't know but I think I maybe fallin' for you; dropping so quickly. Maybe I should keep this to myself. Waiting 'til I know you better. I am trying not to tell you, but I want to; I'm scared of what you'll say. So I'm hiding what I'm feeling, but I'm tired of holding this inside my head._

"I've been working on it for a few months now," Rhuben explained as Noah silently read, "but it was just recently that I had the inspiration to re-write some parts and to finish it."

"That's fitting," Noah said, his eyebrows twitching. "I told Steph this, but because it's us, I think this will blow up before it gets better; and if this is any indication, I'd just be careful about how you say things. Especially to Camille."

"I'm not _that_ heartless," Rhuben replied with a shake of her head.

"You can be from time to time, but, in another way, it just shows how passionate you are about whatever it is you're defending," Noah commented, blowing his fringe off of his forehead. "What about Dak? Don't you think you're leading him on?" Before she could answer, Noah nodded towards the door. "He's waiting in the living room for you. I asked if I could talk to you first."

"You're a little bugger you know that?" Rhuben asked with a shake of her head. She then leaned forward and kissed him on the forehead. "I love you, you know."

"Yup," Noah replied, shutting the notebook. "But…could you not do that anymore?" He motioned towards his forehead and Rhuben blinked. "It's just…I'm not a kid anymore, and I really only needed you to do it as…well, it was like a security blanket I guess."

"Sure, no problem," Rhuben replied with a small smile. "Here, you can finish this." She handed him her unfinished Chinese Food, which he immediately took, dumping the food on top of his. "Just don't make a mess on my bed."

"Only if you don't make a mess with your love life," Noah instantly shot back, handing her back her notebook.

"Don't make me hurt you," Rhuben said, as she took her notebook from him.

"Oh, you wouldn't do that, you love me too much," Noah replied, settling back against her pillows. "If you don't want me to eavesdrop I'll just watch youtube videos on your computer."

"Do whatever, I'd tell you everything, anyway," Rhuben replied, raising her hand to give him the finger. She then crossed her arms over her chest, gently hitting herself on the arm with her notebook, making her way down the winding stair and into the living room. She gave Dak a bright smile as he got to his feet when he spotted her, waving a hand. "So why'd you want to visit little ol' me?"

"Do I really need a reason?" Dak asked, matching her smile as she dropped down onto the couch, facing him. She tossed her notebook onto the table. "I just wanted to talk."

"About Logan," Rhuben said as more of a statement and Dak nodded. "Can't say I didn't see it coming; you always want to talk about me." She gave an over the top smile and Dak rolled his eyes. "So, go ahead."

"You need to tell him how you feel," Dak said. "Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed spending more time with you since we haven't really gotten the chance lately. And it does feel good to have my flirtation reciprocated—"

"I haven't been flirting," Rhuben interrupted him with a roll of her eyes. "No holding hands, no kissing, no touching, that's what we agreed on."

He snorted, "Not that it was really any different than how we treated each other before," he commented. "Or rather, before, you'd at least let me put my arm around you whenever I wanted as long as you were comfortable. If that's just a way for you to make sure Logan doesn't get the wrong idea, that's not going to help. I mean, that's what James does, right?"

"Touché," Rhuben replied with a nod of her head, looking impressed. "But, I haven't really let him do that either. I used to like James, you know."

"That doesn't change the fact that you've always liked Logan," Dak pointed out to her. "Why do you put up with me anyway?"

"Because you were so persistent to be friends with us, despite how weird and mean and guarded we were being when we first met," Rhuben replied after a moment of silence. "But, the difference with Kendall and them was, you knew when to back off and give us space. There are times where you've really seen me hit rock bottom with keeping my secrets, but not once did you ever ask me what was wrong. You just waited for me to tell you."

"Let's face it...I can't pretend that I'm not interested in the things that make you who you are," Dak replied, sitting forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "I want to know what makes you smile, what makes you laugh, what makes you cry, what makes you sad. Anything you would tell me, I'll listen; you know that. As long as I'm the one you'll trust with all your secrets."

He peered at her, tilting his head to the side. "Despite always knowing that you had stronger feelings for Logan, I'm glad you never stopped being friends with me, or having things become weird between us." Rhuben slowly nodded. "You're really one of the first people to look past Dak Zevon the famous teen and help me figure out who Dak Zevon the person is. _That's_ one of the main reasons why I like you. You always look for the real person; which is why I think you want to go and visit Robert and see why he's sending you so many birthday cards. You want to see if what he's been through has changed him; the probation, the anger management. Through the trial you found out that he was verbally abused when he was a kid."

"I don't think people are bad, I just think they do bad things sometimes," Rhuben replied. "All of those cards; they were scary because they weren't like him at all. He was actually being nice; something that I always wanted from him, but when I got it, it freaked me out. But, I knew that if I told Logan he would immediately tell me to throw them away or burn them or whatever. You on the other hand; I knew you'd actually listen to me about how I was feeling with everything, and what I wanted to do about the birthday cards."

"So, why's Logan different?" Dak asked. He gave a smile. "You're making me sound like the good guy here." Rhuben laughed, gazing down into her lap for a moment.

"Because he's everything I'm afraid of," Rhuben replied, looking up at him after a moment, "but I'm not running away anymore. I've done about 9 years of it. I've learned to get really good at it. I also got good at learning how to say one thing when I'm thinking about something else, act like I'm listening when I'm not, pretend to be calm and happy when I'm really freaking out. It's one of the skills you perfect as you get older."

"Logan and them helped us face our fears and to learn that running away from what was truly going to make us safe, was really putting us in danger. We thought we were experts in what we were doing. We didn't respect anyone with authority because of what Robert was doing to us."

"But, Ronan was different; he didn't treat us like we were kids. He treated us like we were his friends. We kept it from Ronan because we were scared about what he would think. We looked up to him all the time; we don't like seeing him hurt or upset. To be the cause of it; we wouldn't be able to live with ourselves. And through all of this, when Logan found out, he helped us keep it a secret. I knew it was killing him, but he was being the friend that I had left behind; the friend who, at such a young age, I wanted to cling as tightly to as possible. Because he always knew how to make me feel better even if he didn't know the real reason I was sad or upset."

"He was the first person who could do it and not have an ulterior motive to it. I wanted that attention from someone for so long. I'd be lying if I said I didn't have _any _feelings for you—" she paused when she saw the look on his face, "—go ahead and smile, I know you want to. That was also why I put up with you; I always had some feelings for you, but I wanted to learn more about you and to see if things could actually change into a relationship, and then Logan showed up."

"And all your feelings for him came flooding back," Dak said, slowly nodding. "Can't say I didn't expect something like this to happen. "But, thanks for telling me everything. I'm happy to be your friend. After all, you helped me with my career just as much as I helped you."

"And I'm forever grateful," Rhuben replied, moving forward to give him a kiss on the cheek. "And I'm still going to let you be my date for the party."

"You're going to _let_ me be your date?" Dak asked, raising his eyebrows. He laughed. "What makes you think I want to, now?"

"Oh, you want to, I can tell," Rhuben said with a laugh. "Not that I blame you; I mean, I'm _awesome_."

"_HA!_"

"Shut up, Noah," Rhuben shouted towards the stairs.

"_…Sorry._"

Rhuben rolled her eyes. "I'm flattered that you like me, Dak, but I'm not as perfect as you make me out to be. I didn't want to disappoint you, so I didn't tell you about my abuse."

"I knew you weren't perfect," Dak replied with a shake of his head. "Now Alyssa, you know my old girlfriend, _she _thought she was perfect. Drove me nuts. You were a great change."

"Well, thank you," Rhuben said, smiling at him, twisting her shoulder towards her chin.

"I think I liked you better when you were mean." Dak laughed, shaking his head. "You weren't so weird then."

"You mean, open and lively," Rhuben corrected him and he nodded. "Stupid, stupid Dak. You don't know me at all do you?" She then gave him a guilty smile. "I'm sorry…I've been hurting you this whole time."

"Don't be sorry," Dak said with a shake of his head and raised his shoulders in a 'what can you do' kind of way. "You feel how you feel. I want you to know you can still tell me anything. If you ever return the feeling…let me know."

"No worries," Rhuben agreed. She grinned. "You'll be the first to know."

Dak laughed. His smile slowly faded as he let out a breath of air. "Just…" Dak trailed off, curling his hand into a fist, propping his cheek up on his closed hand. "Can I try something? I just want to know I at least tried."

Her mind jumps to conclusion about what he wants to try and blushes. And not just a cute pink color, her face actually turns as red as a tomato. She was going to call him out on how they agreed that they weren't going to kiss, but inside, she wanted to know what it was like. What it would feel like if she chose him. But she knew that he wouldn't truly be getting what he wanted, and that was hard for her, since she always put others before herself.

_That's what you're doing here, _she thought to herself. _You're making Dak happy just by this one thing. You're thinking of his feelings and in turn, you're thinking of some of our feelings as well._

"Sure," she answered quietly and closes her eyes.

Dak smiled, and reached up his hands, holding Rhuben's face softly. "Like I said, any time you feel uncomfortable, please push me away." Dak leaned forward, pressing his lips lightly to hers. His heart started beating faster when he felt her start to kiss him back, placing her hands on his shoulders. As he pulled back, he couldn't hide the smile playing at his lips.

Rhuben gave Dak a shy smile, pulling her knees up to her chest, draping her arms casually over her knees. She could admit she doesn't hate the kiss. She _did _actually kiss him back and her face hadn't cooled down at all.

"So..." Dak said, clasping his hands together, "did I rock your world or what? I could've down without the Chinese food taste, but I'll take what I can get."

Rhuben let out a loud laugh. "I love how you can do that." He gave her a confused look. "You can easily take my mind off of things that are bothering me even if it's only for a little while."

"So, what now?" he asked. He rubbed the back of his head and sheepishly smiled.

"Now, you're going to help me with this song," Rhuben replied, grabbing the notebook off the table. "It took me a while to realize it, but I know that their, Big Time Rush's, song _Nothing Even Matters _is about me." She handed Dak the notebook. "You know how hard it is for me to express how I'm feeling, but not when it's in song."

* * *

**A/N:** All the rest of the chapters are more dialogue driven than anything else. And, after writing out all the other chapters, it's going to end with 12 chapters, so only 2 left (including this one).

As I said before, I think I could do better with the Lella pairing. I slighted Noah's plot as well as WayneWyane/Riley's plot but I think that was due in part to the fact that I was trying to add it to a Lella-centric fic. I also brought up some things in this fic that I'll expand more on in the _Never Again_ series. I really should have focused solely on Lella; which is why I'm going to write another one. But that's not to say I didn't enjoy writing this one or I don't enjoy how it turned out. I love this fic and it's one of my top favorites. The next Lella fic willl be dedicated to Rage-Against-Time as she's one of the biggest Lella fans, haha.

Hope you guys liked this chapter.

**PS: I don't own the lyrics to "_Falling For You_" it's by Colbie Callait.**

**Cheers,**

**-Rhubes.**


	10. Happy Freaking Birthday I

_Dating a Virgo can be a challenge, but also extremely rewarding._

* * *

**~10~**

Logan was 18 years old and he didn't feel any different than he had at any other age. But, he was happy to be surrounded by his friends and family, but was grateful for all the hard work his girlfriend had put into making his party a success.

"You know, guys, we ordered the pizza for _all_ of us," Katie said with a smirk as she looked over at Carlos and James who were sitting across from her and Lizzie at a picnic bench set up on the beach. Everyone knew Logan loved being outside as much as he could, so Camille had the idea of having his party on the beach. And, it was something he always wanted, but never got.

Carlos gave his longtime friend, and "little sister", a "wounded puppy" look. "Why do you have to be so mean, Kates?" he asked around a mouthful of pizza. James silently nodded, his cheeks puffed out, causing the two girls to laugh. He swallowed thickly. "I mean, there's plenty for everyone."

"Yeah, if we order more," Lizzie deadpanned, reaching for one of the last slices of Hawaiian pizza. James reached out his hand, slapping it away from her and she let out a screech of pain before she started to giggle.

"God, why do you guys eat so much?" she asked as James moved the slice of pizza onto his place.

"Because we're men," Carlos said, puffing out his chest, deepening his voice.

"Manly men," James added, after he swallowed. "And the only reason we're so low on pizza already, Lizzie, is because I seem to recall _Carlos_ shoving it all into his big mouth."

"Hey!" Carlos exclaimed.

"Just stating a fact, bro," James said with a laugh.

"Well, in that case, I'll just take this, then," Logan said with a smile as he walked up with Camille, an arm wrapped around her waist. James let out a screech in protest, but didn't do anything else besides that. Logan was the birthday boy after all. "Camille, I really can't thank you enough for this."He kissed her on the cheek. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Camille replied with a warm smile. "You deserve it."

"Especially how hard you've been working with Hi-Hat this week," Riley added, walking up to him, punching him gently on the shoulder. "Who knew you had it in you, Logie-Bear." For once, Logan didn't flinch at the nickname. "Happy 18th, old man."

"Hey, don't forget your birthday is in two days," Logan pointed out to her, giving her a one-armed hug. "We'll see who's old then."

"Well, I hate to eat and split, but I've got a Dooley family function I have to attend," Riley said with a brief roll of her eyes although she was smiling. "Call me once you want to want me to serve as head chef for an evening." She gave a little bow before heading over to WayneWayne, looping an arm around his waist as the two of them headed up the beach.

"Never thought I'd see that," Logan commented with a small laugh. "Unless I'm mistaken, Riles doesn't really have a problem pretending to be WayneWayne's girlfriend." Camille let out a short laugh, the comment hanging in the air. Logan scratched the back of his neck, feeling the tension suddenly build around them.

He looked around at the rest of his friends and watched as Sydney carried a bucket of water back from the beach before crouching down by a sandcastle that he, Noah, Patrick, and Stephanie were working on. Jo and Kendall were lying on beach towels, reading, and Dak and Rhuben were standing a little bit farther down the beach, standing a few feet away from each other, kicking a soccer ball back and forth, making sure they didn't hit the sandcastle.

_Don't have support, my foot_, Logan thought, turning his attention away from them. She turned towards Camille, realizing that she was talking to him. "I'm sorry, what were you saying?" he asked, looking over at her.

Camille frowned for a moment, before whispering in his ear. His eyes widened as he took in what she said. He looked over at her, and saw that she was blushing, biting her lower lip. "I mean," she said aloud, "if you're not interested, that's alright, too. No pressure."

Logan said, without thinking, "What if I am?"

"What if you are what?" Camille asked quietly.

_Don't say it, she told herself. Don't say it, don't say it, don't say it._ But he said it anyway. "What if I _am_ interested?"

* * *

He was burning up.

"Wait, stop," Logan said, gently grabbing Camille's wrists, stopping her from unbuttoning the rest of his shirt. "Camille…I can't do this."

Camille paused, letting out a breath of air. "Can't or you won't?" she finally asked after a moment of silence.

Logan let out a breath if air through his nose, looking around her room before locking eyes with her. "A little of both," Logan finally replied. He let go of her and Camille sat back, reaching for her top, quickly pulling it on. "Cam—"

"No, it's fine," Camille replied, an edge to her tone. "It's obvious you don't want to do this because of her."

"She's your friend, too, Camille," Logan said, running his hands over his face. Camille didn't say anything else, she just put her hands up, raising her eyebrows, frowning. "She needs me," Logan muttered after a while, his voice cracking.

"No, she doesn't," Camille contradicted him, slowly shaking her head from side to side. "You need her. Face it, Logan, you need her more than she needs you." She climbed off of him, standing by her bed. "Go to her, Logie."

"Camille—"

"Who are we trying to kid, Logan?" Camille asked with an odd laugh, throwing her hands into the air. "We can't keep doing this to each other. I can't keep trying to prove to you how much I care about you and how much I love you." Her voice started to sound like it was getting thicker, like she was about to cry. "I can't compete with her."

"You're not supposed to," Logan replied, pushing himself up onto his elbows.

Camille laughed again. "Logan, I want to tell you something my grandma always told me; '_You know you love someone when you_ _can spend the entire night just sitting by the fire, __watching__ him __sleep.__'_ Only there's no fire and Rhubes isn't asleep." Logan blinked at her in confusion. "You've always been there, watching over her, waiting to be the first one by her side to pick her up and get her back on the right track. And she'll always be waiting for you."

Camille reached out a hand, cupping his cheek. He tilted his head to the side, pressing his cheek into her soft hand. "We have history, alright, Logan," she said quietly, "we have that moment when James and I kissed. I can't go a day thinking about it, and how it makes my stomach squirm. I feel like…no matter what I do, you and I, we won't ever forget it." She took in a shaky breath. "I'm scared."

"And you think I'm not?" Logan asked, sliding off of her bed, peering at her. He felt tears stinging his own eyes. "I didn't ask you out at first because, yes, I was sorting out my returning feelings for Rhuben. But, also, I was scared. I had never asked anyone out before, and while I was trying to figure out everything with Rhubes, I was having a great time getting to know you, learning about your hopes and dreams of being an actress." He laughed a little bit despite the situation. "And I was getting used to you slapping me."

Camille laughed. "If you have hope, you don't have to fall out of love."

"We keep going in circles, Camille," Logan cried, tugging at his hair. "But, we aren't saying what we really want to say. Hope isn't enough. I could hope that every droplet of rain would turn into a million dollars, but that doesn't mean it's going to happen!"

"You had hope that your band would be successful didn't you?" Camille asked, shaking her head. Logan open and closed his mouth. He was a realist, but he knew that she had a point as well. "A million dollars wouldn't be as great as spending one second with you. If it came down to having a million dollars or you, I'd choose you without a second thought and you know it. That's what makes love great. Not knowing if you're going to work but loving each other enough to try."

"I want to try…and be in a relationship where I don't feel like I have to try so hard all the time to reassure my girlfriend that they don't have to compete with anyone," Logan replied and Camille winced. "We both have faults; we're both jealous people, and we both love passionately. Camille, our feelings for each other have changed. What we started out with...it's like…like popularity in the music business. You start off high, and it gets bigger. But in the end... it goes down, it fades until eventually it's nothing."

Camille let out a small sob. A pained look crossed Logan's face. "I'm going to kiss you. If you don't want me to, you're going to have to stop me."

Camille closed her eyes as Logan cupped her cheeks in his hands, and kissed her. He gently pressed his lips against hers. He still felt the passion between them and the sparks, but it was less forceful than usual. As he pulled away and looked into her eyes, he felt the same sadness that she was showing. It was a kiss goodbye and they both knew it.

* * *

_Bzzz. Bzzz._

Rhuben popped open an eye and winced when she saw the bright glow of her phone. The little circle with a envelope popped up on her screen. She stared at the icon for a moment before grabbing her phone, pressing her thumb into the circle, swiping it out in a diagonal.

**Logan: **Meet me outside your house in a little?

She stared at the text for a moment before looking over at the clock. It was a little past ten at night. She wanted to get to sleep early that night, try and get a good night's sleep, try and have a fresh start so she could do a lot of thinking with a clear head. But, this was different. Logan never stayed out late, not even on the weekend, knowing that eating healthy and getting a lot of sleep was vital in being a good performer. She knew something was up.

**Rhuben: **What's up?

**Logan: **Meet me outside?

Rhuben stared at her phone, one eye shut against the brightness in the dark room. She turned her head and looked into the dark splotch that was Riley's room, listening to her soft snores through the open doorway. She pulled her blankets up over her head, just in case.

**Rhuben: **I don't know.

**Logan: **Camille and I are done. You promised to finish our talk from before. We shook on it and everything.

**Rhuben:** Fine. I'll be waiting.

She threw her blankets back off her legs and swung her feet to the floor. She quickly changed out of her pajamas and grabbed her shoes and her wallet, heading down the stairs and into the living room. Ronan was sitting on the couch, flipping through stacks of paper, hovering over his computer.

"I thought it was weird that you all were heading to bed so early," Ronan commented, looking up from his computer, removing his glasses. "Where're you going?"

"Logan's picking me up," Rhuben replied, as she dropped into a chair, starting to pull on her shoes. She looked up at him when he didn't say anything. "Aren't you going to ask me about all of this?"

"No," Ronan replied with a shake of his head. He tapped the end of his glasses against his teeth. "The whole time I've known you, we've been able to talk about anything and I've always given you advice on whatever it was you needed advice on. But, I want you to figure this out for yourself and then come talk to me." He folded his glasses and set them down onto the table. "I told you about me and Matt right? How we were both interested in the same girl."

"It worked out though, I mean, you're still great friends," Rhuben replied and Ronan snorted.

"Yeah, but neither of us have a girl," Ronan replied with a mock eye roll. "Not that it really matters; I mean, I have more important things than dating right now."

"You should date," Rhuben said, finishing up tying her shoes before resting her elbows on her knees. "Or can you really not see yourself married in the future? I mean, seriously, Riles and I are at the age where we should be at college and leaving the house."

"You know that's not happening for a while," Ronan pointed out. "With how long you've gone feeling alone; like no one cared, not having a stable home. Now that you have one, I can only assume you're going to stay in this environment until you really feel like you can handle things on your own." He sighed. "Which includes your love life."

"You notice too many things," Rhuben said with a shake of her head.

"I learned from the best," Ronan replied, He looked out the front window when lights appeared in the driveway. "You're ride's here. Don't stay out too late."

"Got it," Rhuben replied, grabbing her wallet off the floor, making her way over to the front door. "I'll see you later." She slipped out the front door, quietly closing it behind her. She blinked in surprise at the car that was obviously not the Big Time Rush mobile before climbing into the passenger seat. "Nice car."

"Mom had it sent over," Logan replied as Rhuben buckled up. He shifted the car into reverse and backed out of the driveway. "It's a—"

"2009 Kia Soulster," Rhuben finished for him. "I know my cars, Logan."

Logan laughed a little bit, as he drove down the road. But, he noticed that she hadn't called him "Logie-Bear" like she did whenever she was making a point about something that should've been incredibly obvious. "What got you into cars, anyway?"

Rhuben was silent for a long while, chewing on her thumbnail as she turned her head to look out the window at all of the trees that passed by. "An ex-boyfriend really got me into them. I learned how to fix cars when I was younger; my biological dad taught me how, and then Robert kept it up. It was kind of a ploy at first to get us to trust him; he continued to do the things our parents taught it." She let out a bitter laugh, shaking her head. "Kind of a way for him to empathize. But, then I met my ex-boyfriend and he had a pretty cool car; a mustang. We just started talking over that."

"Why'd you two break—"

"What did you want to talk about, Logan?" Rhuben asked, turning to face him, getting straight to the point.

"Wanted to finish our conversation the other day," Logan replied, coming up to a red light. "Dak told me."

"How much?" Rhuben asked her lips twitching, afraid to hear the answer. She started to play with the ring on her finger, twisting it around and around and around.

"Everything."

Rhuben briefly squeezed her eyes shut, but didn't say anything. Her thoughts were racing a mile a minute, and Logan's emotionless face, or at least what she could see of his profile, wasn't giving her any clue about how he felt about it. She let out a deep breath after a stretch of silence.

"Well, given that silence, I obviously know how you feel about it so I don't know why we're talking about this."

"No, I want to hear _you_ say it, Bella," Logan said, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel. Rhuben bit her bottom lip. "God, when did it become so hard to talk to each other. We've always been able to talk about anything. Why is this different, now?"

"You know why."

Logan made a noise of disbelief. "Rhubes, we're friends, _best_ friends!"

"And that, _mate_, is why this is so hard," Rhuben snapped.

"It doesn't have to be," Logan replied, simply. He cracked a small smile. "For once in your life you could stop being stubborn." Rhuben chewed on her bottom lip, looking anywhere but at him. "Mel, would you just talk to me?" His voice cracked with frustration.

"I can't!" Rhuben cried. "Don't you think I want to? I mean, in my head this is so easy. I've—I've said it _all_ year along. I've said it a million times! But, I can't say it now. I just can't say it! You know I hate talking about my feelings and if you were truly my friend, you wouldn't pressure me into this."

"What are you so afraid of?" he asked her.

"Nothing. I'm not afraid of anything," Rhuben replied with a shake of her head.

"You won't even look at me," Logan pointed out. "Not that I can really look back at you, I mean, I don't want us to crash." Rhuben laughed, a weak laugh.

"I don't know what to say." She wrapped her arms around her middle. "I—I just can't do this."

"Why?"

"…I don't know," Rhuben lamely replied.

Logan let out a heavy sigh, briefly tightening his grip on the steering wheel. He hated seeing her looking so uncomfortable and at a loss of words. But, he wanted her to come out and say what she was feeling.

"Then there's nothing there to stop us, is there?" he could hear the hopefulness in his voice. "Unless you don't have feelings for me…" He let the sentence hang, but in the slight shift of Rhuben's face he could tell that that wasn't the case at all. _There's something else. But, what is it? _"You're afraid. What are you afraid of?"

Rhuben stayed silent. He rested his left arm on the car door, scratching at a spot behind his ear, wondering what she was thinking of.

"Are you going to let your fears dictate your life?" he asked. "I thought Robert was your biggest fear, but obviously I was wrong."

She still didn't answer. He knew she was afraid. Afraid because he made her feel things she probably had never felt before. But, he couldn't help but wonder what part of her life had left her afraid of something as natural and necessary as love. It was more than the abuse; he just knew it. Because she always had her siblings there to love her, and she had Ronan. There was something else.

"I want some ice cream," Rhuben suddenly said. "What about you?"

"As you wish," Logan replied, turning on his turn signal.

* * *

"Dak and I kissed," Rhuben said, working her spoon around a chunk of cookie dough in her ice cream. Logan looked up at her, his spoon sticking out of his mouth. He slowly removed it, swallowing. "The other day; we kissed. Did he tell you that?"

"No," Logan replied, shaking his head. "He didn't tell me. He only told me about the cards from Robert." He peered at her for a moment. "Why are you so afraid to be honest with yourself?" Logan asked. Rhubens immediately looked at him and instantly hated that she did so. She chewed on her bottom lip as Logan waited. The longer she stared at him, the stronger the desire to run became. But, she knew she had to stay.

"I'm not afraid," she finally said.

"If you're not afraid, then why can't you just admit that you were jealous of Camille and me," he replied. "It's not a crime. Anytime Dak even looked at you I was jealous."

"Stop it, Logan," Rhuben commented, sighing heavily, rubbing a hand over her face. "Leave things the way they are."

"Stop playing with me." She was still silent. "When we were kids, you always wanted me to tell you a story," Logan slowly replied, "one with a happy ending."

"Everybody wants a happy ending in life, Logan," Rhuben replied with a shrug, raising her eyebrows. Her eyes narrowed slightly when he set his spoon down onto the table with a clatter.

Slowly, hesitantly, he leaned forward, touching his lips to hers in the gentlest of kisses.

* * *

**A/N: **One more chapter to go. What I was really getting to in this chapter was how confusing everything was and how, in conversations like this, you can talk around in circles before finally getting to the point. Hope you guys liked it.

**PS:** New poll in our profile for the question, "Which do you like better Logan/Rhuben or Dak/Rhuben?" So, if you could answer, that'd be great. If you don't have an account, check out the options and give your answer in a review, or you could tell us on tumblr (link in profile) or on our twitter (link in profile). The poll is to get an idea of what people like better, which paring i need to work my writing on, and just in general stuff for my new fics.

**Cheers,**

**-Rhubes**


	11. Happy Freaking Birthday II

_Virgos care and feel deeply to a fault. They feel very passionate about the one they choose to spend their time with._

* * *

**~11~**

"Camille?"

Camille started at the sudden voice. "Yeah?"

"What's wrong?" WayneWayne asked quietly. They were in the Jacksons backyard, celebrating Riley and Rhuben's birthday. Despite the two girls not wanting their birthday to be a big deal, they were surprised and happy to have the party.

Camille shifted in her wooden chair and sighed. "Nothing. I was just thinking."

"Oh." WayneWayne replied. He was silent for a moment. "Hungry?"

Camille shrugged. She was trying hard not to look over at Rhuben and Logan. She really did care for him more than she had ever really noticed before.

WayneWayne nudged her. "Come on, let's go inside and talk for a little bit," he suggested. "I know you want to."

"They're about to open their gifts," Camille protested, motioning to the table of gifts.

"Don't worry about it, you're more important right now," WayneWayne replied, getting to his feet. He held his hand out to her and Camille let out a heavy sigh, getting to her feet. She took his hand and he pulled her into the house through the back door. He made his way into the living room and dropped into the chair. "Kind of hard to believe how the Jacksons have turned out considering everything."

"Yeah, I know," Camille agreed.

"I don't think I've ever really seen them this happy. Ronan's great to them." She slowly sat down, rubbing her arms. The living room was kind of messy. There were rumpled clothes and papers all over the floor and food and books piled on the coffee table. There were a couple of DVD cases hanging haphazardly off of the top of the shelf above the large flat screen tv. "The place suits them, though."

"You ok?" WayneWayne asked, again.

"Yeah," Camille replied, running her fingers over the glass of the picture. "Yeah, I'm fine." She turned around, crossing her arms over her chest. "I always thought that one day Logan and I wouldn't be together, but I never thought about how I'd act when it happened." WayneWayne silently watched her, a curious look on his face. "I could tell things were changing, but Logan was the one person I could really rely on in this town as I wasn't getting any auditions. Or, at least, I thought he was."

"And now?" WayneWayne asked.

"I have all of you guys," Camille replied with a smile. "I even have Rhubes. I can't tell you how many times she dropped whatever it was she was doing to help me with my auditions." She let out a bitter laugh. "And yes, I'll admit, I am jealous. I'm jealous of every minute she gets to spend with him, of every concerned expression she sends his way, of every tear shed, of every glance, every touch, and every thought. I want to rip him to pieces and purge him from her mind and from her heart."

She shook her head back and forth and said quietly, "But I can't. Because she's my friend. And she's done so much to help me. The good far outweighs the bad; and this is, like, the only bad thing she's ever done to me. I can't ruin a friendship over that. I just can't."

"That's nice to hear," Rhuben said quietly, stepping into the doorway. She nervously rubbed her arm. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop."

"I'll leave you two, alone," WayneWayne said, getting to his feet.

"Figured you hated me," Rhuben said to Caimille.

"I hate what has changed, but everything happens for a reason, right?" Camille asked, digging at the ground with her toe. She brushed her hair out of her face with her shoulder. "Your friendship is more important to me than a guy. Logan was my first boyfriend, it's going to be weird for a while. But, my friendship with him and with you is more important."

She suddenly stepped forward, wrapping her arms around Rhuben in a hug. Rhuben hesitated, and then tentatively hugged her back. "I'm so sorry."

"Me too," Camille replied.

"Camille?" a voice suddenly called. "Bella? Where are you guys?" His voice got closer. "WayneWayne said you guys were in here."

"Living room," Rhuben called back as she took a step back from Camille.

"Hey," he said quietly, slowly stepping into the room, rubbing his hands together. "We were all wondering what was taking you so long. You guys ok?" Rhuben looked over at Camille.

"Yes," Camille replied with a nod. "We're going to be ok. But, us, Logan? It'll take a while to be comfortable around you and to not be so weird, but we're going to be ok, too." She took in a deep breath. "So, let's make it official, Logan; I think we should break up. It's taken me a long time to realize what I want and that's to be happy. And I wasn't happy trying to force things to work." She could feel a burning in the back of her eyes, so she blinked a few times, willing it to go away. " I really do care about you, Logan, and I know you'll truly be happy with Rhubes."

She then grabbed Rhuben's wrist, pulling her over to Logan, making them hold hands. "You really do make a cute couple. Just…please be careful. I know the media has been waiting for this for a while now. I don't want to see you two get hurt because f it." She then gave the two of them an amused look. "Happy Freaking Birthday, right?"

The three of them laughed weakly. "I'm going to go," she said quietly. She took a few steps out of the room before turning around to face them. "It was really the song, _Nothing Even Matters_, that made me realize how much you cared for her, Logan. It's like my grandmother always said, '_No matter how far you get with life. No matter how hard you try. No matter the length or distance. You can never ever escape love_'."

"Hey, Camille," Rhuben siad, stopping her friend from leaving the room. "We've both dated Logan so...maybe we could go the mall and share some horror stories. Camille laughed when Logan let out an offended, "Heyyy."

"It's a date," Camille replied. She gave them a smile before heading back out to the party.

"Dak and I were never a big deal you know," Rhuben said, turning back to Logan, gently squeezing his hand. "I mean, sure, we kissed. But it was nothing."

"I know," Logan replied with a nod.

Rhuben stood on her tip toes, leaned in and kissed him with everything she had in her. It only took him about a millisecond to react. He wrapped his arms around her, pulled her closer, and kissed her back. When they finally pulled apart, he was cupping er face gently with his hands, the two of them were out of breath.

"What was that for, Bella?" he asked quietly.

"I kissed you because I wanted to," Rhuben replied with a small smile. She then stepped away from him and hurried to the coffee table, moving some stuff around until she found her notebook. "We haven't started talking about our next album yet, but I really want this song to be on it. Kind of like…an answer to a track on your CD."

"I don't follow," Logan replied.

"I know _Nothing Even Matters_ is about me," Ruben replied, "I've known for a long while; back when I heard the demos. I just didn't want to admit it to myself because at the time I didn't understand how anybody could love me. I've been in denial for a long time, but I'm ready to face the truth."

She flipped open to the page and held it out to him. "It's called _Falling For You," _Rhuben explained, blushing, brushing her hair behind her ears. She took in a deep breath and started singing, "I've been spending all my time, just thinking about you. I don't know what to do; I think I'm fallin' for you. I've been waiting all my life and now I found you. I don't know what to do; I think I'm falling for you."

"So, what does that mean?" Logan asked, a teasing smile tugging at his lips. Rhuben wrapped her arms around his neck. Logan tossed the notebook down onto the couch, looping his arms around her waist.

"It means," she said, her voice barely above a whisper, "that I love you too and I'm not scared anymore." Logan grinned and closed the space between them. Rhuben rested her head on his chest when she pulled away. "Tell me a story?"

"What do you want to hear?" Logan asked.

"Something with a happy ending." She slipped her arms around his waist and hugged him.

"I think you'll like the one I have in mind," Logan replied with a small laugh.

**THE END**

* * *

**A/N: **So, there you have it. One scene was from Dawson's Creek. I really enjoyed writing this fic and showing more of how Logan and Rhuben have their own special things as friends, like Kendall and Riley do. This will be expanded more in my second Lella fic (also dedicated to Rage-Against-Time and all the other Lella lovers). It won't be up for a while as the next fic I'm doing is _Just Listen,_ a Della (Dak/Rhuben) fic. But, I could also do both at the same time, I don't know yet.

I've been meaning to write one where it's where the Jacksons just got to America and they meet Dak Zevon and everything happens with them. It might even be a prequel to the Never Again series, but I'm not sure if I'll do it as the main plot line with the Jacksons really gets resolved when BTR arrive.

Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed this fic. I hope you enjoyed it. If you have any questions that I didn't answer, feel free to PM me and I'll do my best to answer them for you. For an idea of what fics we have coming up, head to our tumblr (link in profile) and check the "Upcoming Fics" section (left hand side). While you're there, also check out our "Request Policy" section.

_**Cheers,**_

_**-Rhubes**_


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